Wilson Central High School senior Parker Klein is about to land in Miami.
Mt. Juliet High seniors Dean Sutherland and Collin Fox, Green Hill senior Addison McQueen and Lebanon High senior Nicholas Ballard are also flying around the country — doing it all from Wilson County’s central office.
That is where a Career and Technical Education aviation class takes place using simulators, one of 193 CTE classes the district has with about 6,000 students enrolled per semester.
“I like the way it gives kids an opportunity to experience aviation,” Sutherland said, then adding. “Firsthand.”
CTE in Tennessee
Parker Klein of Wilson Central High School simulates flying in an aviation Career Technical Education class at Wilson County’s central office in Lebanon.
Tennessee had more than 181,000 students enrolled in CTE courses during the 2023-24 academic year, according to the state Department of Education. The class of 2023 had 95.16% of CTE students go on to a four-year university, two-year college or technical program, military service, or the workforce.
Tennessee schools will have 59 programs of study within CTE programs in 2025-26, according to the state, with programs that are aligned to a career cluster and include four courses.
“Career and Technical Education plays an integral role in preparing all Tennessee students today for the jobs of tomorrow,” said Lizzette Reynolds, Tennessee commissioner of education. “Students are prepared for success by participating in opportunities that allow them to grow, improve, and learn, gaining the confidence and experience to advance to postsecondary, the workforce, or the military.”
Agriculture and Natural Resources, Business Management, Culinary Arts, Cosmetology, Health Sciences and Information Technology are among the most popular CTE courses in Wilson County. Welding, marketing and automotive classes are among other district offerings, CTE Supervisor Bonnie Holman said.
A majority of the district’s dual enrollment courses are within CTE programs.
CTE flying in Wilson County
There are 37 students in the four aviation courses the district offers, a program now in its second year. The classes have simulators that mimic actual flight details, from taking off to landing, with wind, turbulence, rain, day, night and other variables actual pilots experience.
Alan Ward teaches Career Technical Education classes on aviation for Wilson County students.
“It definitely helps because you can feel what a slip is supposed to feel like, which is a method of losing altitude quickly,” Parker said while on the Redbird MCX Full Motion Simulator. “It is pretty realistic.”
Mt. Juliet High’s Collin Fox has known since first-grade that he wanted to be a pilot.
“I even told my first-grade teacher I’d fly her one day,” Fox said. “And when I heard about this class I thought it was perfect. Especially since it is dual enrollment, so I’d have fun flying and skip real school. Perfect.”
Alan Ward, a pilot for 24 years with NetJets, teaches the district’s four aviation classes. Ward learned of the opening after initially looking into substitute teaching with the district.
Wilson County has 139 CTE teachers. Staffing classes with qualified trade experts, paying them and then teaching those experts “how to teach,” is a challenge for CTE programs. So is equipment and material costs that many courses involve, Holman said.
Wilson County did receive an Innovative School Models Grant in 2022 that has provided the district $8.5 million dollars over four years, through June 30, 2026. Funding helps add programs in each high school, hire instructors, purchase equipment support teacher professional development and training and provide stipends for CTE teachers, Holman said.
Dean Sutherland, near left, and Collin Fox work on a flight simulator in an aviation class that is part of Wilson County’s Career Technical Education program.
“Aviation was one such program we were able to implement for the district and is a perfect example of an industry sector that is high skill, high wage and in demand regionally to our area,” Holman said.
“If we can expose students to more careers at an earlier age, they know what career options are available to them and they can pursue those. It allows those students hands on applications for those skills and they can test drive that career to see ‘Do I enjoy this (or) do I not?’ and that is a valuable learning experience in and of itself.”