Southeast High School senior Joseph Tonche wants to pursue a career as an aircraft mechanic in the U.S. Air Force, and a new aviation lab at the school is helping prepare him for that future.
Officials from Oklahoma City Public Schools and Metro Technology Centers worked together in developing the programming for the aviation lab, funded by proceeds of a $955 million bond approved by voters in 2022. The lab includes four simulators that allow students to learn what it’s like to be in the pilot’s seat on an airplane. A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the lab was held Sept. 13.
“It’s just like a game, having fun, but it’s also extremely realistic,” Tonche said while sitting in one of the simulators. “This is almost exactly how I would fly this plane.”
The goal of the aviation lab is to provide students with hands-on training and direct pathways to careers in the aviation and aerospace industries.
Flight simulators located inside a new aviation lab at Southeast High School on Sept. 9.
Oklahoma has numerous large aviation-related employers, including Tinker Air Force Base, the American Airlines maintenance facility in Tulsa, the Federal Aviation Administration Academy in Oklahoma City, Boeing and others. Grayson Ardies, the executive director of the Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics, has said the state’s aviation industry has about 120,000 employees and a $44 billion annual economic impact.
Aaron Collins, the superintendent of MetroTech, said during the 2024-25 school year, 82 students enrolled in aerospace technology classes at Southeast and 28 of them now are enrolled in MetroTech’s full-time high school program, Aerospace Maintenance Foundations, at the CareerTech center’s South Bryant campus.
“This highlights the power of early exposure,” Collins said. “When students see a clear pathway, they stay on it.”
Southeast Principal Colin Selbo marvels at the lab inside his school and said it provides students evidence that the adults charged with their education are supportive of their career dreams.
“I asked our students to challenge themselves to do something new or something hard this school year … anything that would push themselves to challenge themselves in a new way,” he said. “It’s because of the investment from our community in facilities and projects like this that our students can know that when they push themselves to do these hard things, that we have their back and we are there supporting them and cheering them on.”
11 Oklahoma campuses on list of nation’s top vocational schools
USA TODAY’s list of America’s Top Vocational Schools includes 11 Oklahoma campuses that received the highest rating of five stars and six others that received a four-star rating.
USA TODAY partnered with market research firm Statista to create the list. They rated schools on graduation rate, salaries of graduates, years it takes to pay off the net cost, social mobility and diversity. Data on school performance was collected by Statista through publicly available federal databases.
Oklahoma’s five-star campuses, in alphabetical order:
Francis Tuttle Technology Center in Oklahoma City
Gordon Cooper Technology Center in Shawnee
Great Plains Technology Center in Lawton
Indian Capital Technology Center in Muskogee
Miller-Motte College in Tulsa
Northwest Technology Center in Alva
Pioneer Technology Center in Ponca City
Pontotoc Technology Center in Ada
Western Technology Center in Burns Flat
Four-star campuses are Caddo Kiowa Technology Center in Fort Cobb, Jenks Beauty College, Kiamichi Technology Center in McAlester, Meridian Technology Center in Stillwater and Northern Oklahoma College in Tonkawa.
All but Miller-Motte College, Jenks Beauty College and Northern Oklahoma College are part of Oklahoma’s CareerTech system.
Stitt names Bixby man to RUSO Board of Regents
Gov. Kevin Stitt has appointed David Carl McKenzie of Bixby to fill an open seat on the board of regents for the Regional University System of Oklahoma.
Stitt made the appointment on Sept. 17. McKenzie will fill a seat vacated earlier this year by Chris Van Denhende of Tulsa when Stitt appointed Van Denhende to the Oklahoma State Board of Education.
McKenzie’s appointment is pending confirmation by the Oklahoma Senate, which typically takes up gubernatorial nominations toward the end of its annual session, which runs from February through May. If confirmed, his term would expire June 10, 2030.
NSU, UCO part of network promoting first-generation college attendance
Northeastern State University in Tahlequah and the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond are two of 60 new members of the FirstGen Forward Network for 2025-26 named by FirstGen Forward.
FirstGen Forward supports first-generation students through professional development, institutional collaboration and peer learning opportunities. Since its inception, 489 institutions across 49 states and the District of Columbia have joined the network.
NSU President Rodney Hanley said he was the first in his family to graduate from college, “and I know how transformative that experience can be. This recognition affirms NSU’s mission to ensure first-generation students have the resources, support and community they need to thrive – academically, socially and professionally.”
Among NSU’s initiatives is a partnership with the Cherokee Nation that allows eligible Sequoyah High School students direct admission to the university.
Pauls Valley, El Reno education partners honored by OSSBA
The Oklahoma State School Boards Association has honored two organizations, Love PV in Pauls Valley and Wesley in ACTSion in El Reno, with the 2025 Barbara Lynch Community Partner Award for outstanding partnerships with their local schools.
In Garvin County, Love PV addresses barriers many families face at the beginning of the school year, teaming up with Pauls Valley Public Schools to provide every student with school supplies.
Inspired by Acts 20:35, Wesley in ACTSion, a committee created by the Wesley United Methodist Church in El Reno, organizes projects like the Dolly Parton Imagination Library and the Children’s Bookmobile, making literacy and education accessible to children in El Reno and Canadian County. In 2024, the Imagination Library mailed out 12,653 books, while the Bookmobile provided more than 2,200 in its inaugural year.
“Through their efforts, they have built strong relationships in their communities that will have a positive, lasting impact on public education, their community and its students,” OSSBA Executive Director Shawn Hime said in recognizing Love PV and Wesley in ACTSion.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKCPS launches new aviation lab, state schools earn national nod