Vision in Action
Meet Sara
Sara is 16 years old and a junior at a large public high school in Phoenix. She lives with her mother, who manages a warehouse for a regional shipping company, her father who runs a family bakery, and her grandfather, a retired auto mechanic. Her favorite memories are with her grandpa who taught her how to change a tire and rebuild an engine.
She plays cello in the orchestra and just joined the robotics team after learning about it through her physics teacher. She enjoyed physics because of the labs and being able to test what she was learning with real world scenarios. Sara has always preferred hands-on learning and figuring out how things work and fixing them when they break.
Career & Community Connect
Sara and students from several local high schools arrive at the conference and step into a world they’ve never seen up close. The day begins in a maintenance hangar where she sees an airplane engine. Students rotate through immersive stations where they inspect a real aircraft engine to identify common mechanical failures, use diagnostic tools to troubleshoot electrical system issues, and practice safely removing and replacing key aircraft components. At each station, certified aviation maintenance technicians guide students through real-world scenarios they encounter on the job.
Later, the students visit the aircraft display to learn about the different types of aircraft, browse the exhibitor booths with a scavenger hunt to visit different types of booths to learn about maintenance, insurance, medical transport aircraft, and more. Sara loved speaking with the technicians and learning more about medical transport - she never knew aviation and medicine were linked. Each student leaves with a list of apprenticeship programs, union pathways, military-to-civilian routes, and technical schools that offer Federal Aviation Administration–aligned certification tracks.
An Under Explored Industry
Aviation is an industry facing a growing workforce shortage, especially in aviation maintenance. As airplane fleets expand and experienced technicians retire, airlines and airports across the country are struggling to fill open positions despite strong wages and career stability. Aviation as a whole, and the opportunities for a range of careers it offers remains largely invisible to most high school students.
Sara’s family recently took a trip and it was her first time on an airplane. She watched the technicians work on the plane as they waited and Sara wondered if a plane engine was similar or different from the engines she worked on with her grandpa.
When she gets back to school, she meets with her counselor to learn more about aviation programs. Her counselor mentions an upcoming conference being held by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, AOPA, held right outside Phoenix. They invite students one day to engage in an educational, hands-on experience to learn about the industry. When Sara hears about this opportunity, she immediately signs up.
Impact
By the end of the day, Sara feels clarity, something she hasn’t felt before. She can picture herself in this work: solving complex mechanical problems, ensuring safety, and being part of a fast-moving industry where her skills truly matter. During her senior year, Sara is able to get a part-time job at one of the small local airports and finds a mentor in the mechanic department. After graduation, she plans to enter a local aviation maintenance technical school, where she begins training toward her certification as an aviation maintenance technician.
For AOPA, the impact is immediate and measurable. They gather a list of students interested in aviation careers, find ways to deepen their relationships with technical schools, and share student stories like Sara’s on social media and in industry publications. Several exhibiting companies commit to offering paid internships and equipment donations to local training programs. The student experience becomes a cornerstone of the conference’s community engagement strategy and a powerful tool for strengthening the aviation workforce pipeline.