USA Michigan Aviation Operator Pursues 4-Year High School Pilot STEM Pathway

Michigan, USA – Airport services and aviation provider Orchard Beach Aviation is working to introduce the AOPA Foundation High School Aviation STEM Curriculum at Manistee Middle High School, initially targeting a single-school implementation before potentially expanding to other districts. If adopted, the programme would establish an earlier aviation recruitment pathway in northern Michigan by exposing students to pilot and unmanned-aircraft career tracks before they progress to professional flight training or higher education.

• Orchard Beach Aviation's Tyler Webber presented the proposed AOPA programme to the Manistee County Blacker Airport Authority on July 20, 2026 and said discussions with Manistee Middle High School leadership were planned for August to determine the requirements for implementation. No final agreement with the school has yet been announced.
• The AOPA Foundation curriculum provides seven courses across Pilot and Unmanned Aircraft Systems career and technical education pathways for grades 9–12. Participating schools can adopt individual courses or the wider four-year pathway.
• The curriculum is supplied free to eligible US schools, districts, nonprofits and homeschool co-ops, together with online teacher professional development and ongoing programme support. Participating organisations must use selected courses as official credit-bearing classes and intend to enrol at least five students in each course.
• Orchard Beach Aviation also raised the prospect of developing an aviation maintenance pathway. Separately, AOPA announced in July 2026 that it is developing a maintenance and manufacturing addition to its High School Aviation STEM Curriculum, with field testing targeted as early as 2028; that pathway is therefore not yet part of the currently available programme.
• AOPA reported that its high school programme served more than 32,000 students at over 1,500 schools during the 2025–26 academic year and had reached more than 130,000 students since launching in 2016.
• Orchard Beach Aviation operates at Manistee County Blacker Airport, where it provides fixed-base operator services, scenic flights and aircraft rentals. The airport authority oversees airport policy and funding, while Orchard Beach Aviation performs elements of daily airport operations under contract.
• AFM previously reported that the AOPA curriculum has been paired with simulator-based education at US high schools, including Redbird Flight Simulations' development of nearly 50 simulator lessons supporting AOPA course material and the donation of simulators to five Oklahoma high schools using the program.

Source: Orchard Beach Aviation