ELIZABETHTOWN — The N.C. Department of Transportation’s Division of Aviation recently awarded 10 airports with $3,000 grants to assist with the costs of hosting aviation and aerospace-themed summer academies for middle and high school students.
Curtis L. Brown, Jr. Field in Elizabethtown is one of the airports selected to receive funding.
The rapid growth of the aerospace and unmanned aircraft system sectors offers many job opportunities for North Carolinians in the aerospace field. According to a press release, the 2023 Aviation Career Education (ACE) Academy Grant Program aims to inspire and expose the next generation of talent to those careers.
Academy topics will include aviation history, career discovery, career planning, and unmanned aircraft systems (known as UAS or drones). Academies will feature various hands-on activities, such as drone and airplane flight simulations, as weel as educational experiences, including trips to aerospace fields.