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Art Smith students to benefit from unique partnership

It was a big day for Art Smith Aviation Academy (ASAA).
Students at ASAA, and representatives from all parties involved in the creation of the MOU, celebrating the signing of the agreement on Monday, March 6.
Students at ASAA, and representatives from all parties involved in the creation of the MOU, celebrating the signing of the agreement on Monday, March 6.

It was a big day for Art Smith Aviation Academy (ASAA).

On Monday, March 6, Northern Lights Public Schools (NLPS) entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the aviation technology company CAE to help improve the educational experience for students at the CFB Cold Lake school in a very unique way.

The process started back in fall of 2016, when CAE approached ASAA about the opportunity for the company to provide enhanced learning opportunities for students. After meeting with ASAA, NLPS, and Military and Family Support Services, CAE drafted the MOU.

The MOU will bridge the gap between the CAE and ASAA, allowing for students to tour their facility, meet people working in various positions within the company, and get hands on learning experience while discovering possible career opportunities in avionics.

“We recognize that the young folks are the future. The particular curriculum of this school – with a real focus on science, technology, engineering, math and with the aviation curriculum on top of that – those are the types of people we employ. Any opportunity we can have to help augment what it is that they are learning here, and help them out with any of their learning activities, we take that opportunity,” said NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) program manager Scott Greenough.

CAE creates avionics such as GPS systems, radios, and simulators. They currently have a partnership with 4 Wing Cold Lake through the NFTC program.

“It just makes perfect sense to set-up a partnership that is mutually beneficial,” Greenough continued. “We get to hang out with them and learn their new ideas, and they get to hang out with us.”

On Monday, the program already was proving its worth, with the announcement of $2,000 in funding through a grant program known as FIRST Robotics. The money will be used to help build the school's Lego robotics lab.

“It's kind of taking Lego to the next level, where you have to follow a specific plan and this thing actually moves at the end of it. It just gets their minds working in that robotics field,” explained Greenough.

Col. Paul Doyle, 4 Wing Commander, said he's delighted with the partnership, which will provide students at ASAA with a learning opportunity like no other.

“Through the relationship that I have with some of the people who work at CAE, I think we were able to reach a point where we have a fantastic win-win situation.”

The partnership works both ways. For example, CAE will work with students through the Career and Work Exploration program offered by NLPS, providing them with work placements within CAE. The school will promote the company's career opportunities to students considering their post-secondary options.

Greenough said CAE hopes the partnership will help encourage young minds to consider a career in avionics.

ASAA principal Chris Vining emphasized that these opportunities are not normally offered to schools, but because of their ties to the Cold Lake 4 Wing Air Force Base, and their mathematical and engineering based curriculum, they are being given a very unique prospect.

“We are very excited about this new venture and the new road we are going down.”

Also enthusiastic about the endeavor is NLPS board chair Mandi Skogen, who said she was excited to be a part of the creation of the partnership and looks forward to seeing it unfold.

“Our students are going to benefit so much from this opportunity. It allows them to get hands-on learning experience, which is something a lot of schools don't get.”

Ron Young, vice-chair of the Military and Family Support Services, agreed. He noted having the science and technology right in their own backyard has really benefitted the students.

“It (the MOU) was created exactly for this purpose, so we could take advantage of the resources we have on the base, and to give students the extra advantage over kids that live off-base.”

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