Community Education

Aviation Academy priming the pipeline for next generation of airline pilots 

Isabelle Harruff adjusts the throttle and steers her Cessna Skyhawk down the runway, deftly pressing the rudder pedals to keep the plane straight. It’s a mostly clear day in mid-fall, with a few wispy clouds on the horizon. Harruff gently pulls back on the yoke, and she’s airborne.

The runway drops away, and the Tacoma Narrows glitters below. 

“This is the Narrows Bridge,” she says, pointing. “Right behind us would be Fox Island.” 

Harruff banks the Cessna, slowly tracing a wide oval in the sky above landmarks familiar to residents of the  Gig Harbor area. She points out a golf course near the Narrows.

The scenery from the cockpit looks real, but it’s actually a virtual display on one of 16 flight simulators at Henderson Bay High School. Harruff, a Gig Harbor High School junior, is among 37 students in the inaugural class of Peninsula School District’s Aviation Academy, which launched this fall. 

“Because I’ve been doing this program, I’ve really fallen in love with (flying),” she said. “It’s very freeing, in a way.”

Isabelle Harruff, a Gig Harbor High School junior, pilots a small plane on a flight simulator at Peninsula School District’s Aviation Academy on Oct. 31, 2025. Photo by Christina T. Henry

Head start on aviation careers

Harruff has only flown a simulator so far. But eventually she wants to become either a commercial pilot or an aerial firefighter.

The Aviation Academy doesn’t include a flight school, but completing the two-year program as part of her high school graduation requirement will give Harruff a big head start. And she’ll get dual credit for her work from Green River College. Students can earn up to 60 college credits during their two years in the program. 

The academy provides students with hands-on, career-focused learning opportunities in the aeronautical sciences. It prepares them for Federal Aviation Administration certification in a variety of well-paying aviation careers, such as air traffic control, airport management and airline dispatch. 

Program filled quickly

Peninsula School District began planning for the Aviation Academy a little more than a year ago, lining out the curriculum, securing the space at Henderson Bay, and purchasing equipment.

The district engaged industry partners, including Rainier Flight Services, the Museum of Flight in Tukwila and Tacoma Narrows Airport.

The academy is open to juniors and seniors throughout the district. There’s no entrance exam or competitive selection, but students must be on track to complete all high school requirements to be accepted.

The district allocates slots in the program through a lottery. It expanded its original plan of one session to running both morning and afternoon groups of students to accommodate demand. 

Funded by grants

The academy is part of the district’s Career and Technical Education division, which offers classes in a range of technical skills open to all students.

For those who wonder if the Aviation Academy is siphoning money from basic education, the answer is “no,” according to Kelsey Parke, CTE director. The state funds CTE classes like basic education, but with an enhanced dollar amount to support career-connected learning. The CTE budget is part of the district’s general expenditures, like basic education, but money for CTE classes is its own separate fund.  

CTE classes are eligible for grants related to career development and hands-on skills. The district pursues grant funding for many of its CTE offerings, including the Aviation Academy. In fact, grants covered the entire $182,000 in start-up costs for the academy, Parke said. Most were state or federal grants aimed at supporting high-demand careers in applied sciences.

In addition, the district received a $179,000 proviso from the Legislature. A proviso is a state budget allocation for a specific purpose, in this case, the Aeronautical Science Pathway within the CTE program. The proviso, announced in June, expanded students’ access to field experience and industry site visits, according to the district.

Coursework trajectory

Aviation Academy instructor JP Williamson is a retired U.S. Navy commander and was a Navy helicopter pilot for 18 years. He trained pilots on the MH-60B/R Seahawk helicopter before their deployment to the Pacific Fleet. He served for more than 23 years, retiring on May 31, 2025.

“The students have enjoyed the material, and the setup has made the learning process a complete immersion into aviation,” Williamson said.

The first semester of this first year has been mostly devoted to learning about aircraft systems. Other first-year courses include Aviation Weather, Aviation History and Careers, and Drone Operations. The drone class is separate from a drone programming class that is offered through the Aviation Academy but separate from the Aeronautical Science Pathway.

Second-year courses are: Human Factors for Aviation, Aerodynamics, Airline Operations, Air Traffic Control Fundamentals, Airport Management and Airline Dispatch.

Rigorous course work

Students spend half a day at the academy and half a day at their high school to complete core classes. The academy course work is rigorous. There’s no room for slacking.

“This course is definitely at the college level, and it is very challenging,” said Francis Bender, a Peninsula High School junior who wants to be a commercial pilot. “You have to put the work in, you have to study, you have to do the notes. You have to do all the assignments. There are no retakes.” 

Students in the academy are not an elite bunch. Some have 4.0 GPAs, but many do not. Some are non-traditional learners.

“This class is open to all,” said Ashley Stolhand, assistant CTE director. “And so, we have students from all walks of life. We have students who have parents that are pilots, and we have students who have no one in their family related to aviation at all. We have students who have wanted to be in aviation their entire lives, and we have some who decided right before they enrolled and said, ‘I think this would be really cool.’” 

Flight simulators at Peninsula School District’s Aviation Academy allow pilots to view their aircraft as it would look from a distance. The main view is what pilots would see from the cockpit of the plane.

Learning from the pros

In addition to classroom work and flight simulator training, students have so far taken two field trips to the Gig Harbor Vintage Aero Museum at Tacoma Narrows Airport. They’ve also heard from guest speakers with various backgrounds in aviation.

Students also receive a not-for-credit introduction to private pilot flight training from staff pilots at Rainier Flight Service, the largest training facility of its kind in the Pacific Northwest, according to Stolhand. 

“All of these experiences and conversations have reinforced the book knowledge and simulator experiences and enabled the learning to take the next step,” Williamson said. “The students have been eager to learn and have accepted the challenges that the program has presented them.” 

Stolhand says Williamson has instilled a sense of teamwork in the students. Even this early in the year, they’ve formed a bond with one another.

“He’s very good at building a sense of camaraderie and community and being very patient as it’s developed,” she said. “So, he’s been intentional, and we’re seeing that in the way that students are interacting with each other and seeking each other out.”

Developing skills

Bender has already gotten a couple of flight hours under his belt, thanks to his parents’ support. For his birthday recently, he got to fly a small plane with an instructor out of the Narrows Airport, totally separate from the academy.

“That was my first logged flight,” he said. “I got to take off, and I got to practice stalls and land.”

Williamson jumped in to explain: “An aircraft stall is a loss of lift caused by the wing exceeding its critical angle of attack (AOA), which disrupts smooth airflow over the wing.”

On the simulator, Bender showed how to recover from a spin or aggravated stall by briefly bringing the engine to idle and, as the plane leveled out, adding power. It’s a critical skill, one pilots practice over and over again.

Being in the academy is “a great opportunity to get all this college credit and ground school and all this stuff,” Bender said. “I’m really excited for it to propel me further, to be able to help me to get my private pilot’s (license) and advance further. So that’s why I was really excited to take this class.” 

At the end of his simulated flight, Bender gracefully landed the plane on an “icy” runway. 

Harder than it looks

Bender and Harruff coached this reporter through an erratic takeoff on the flight simulator. Steering with the pedals was difficult. Somehow, the plane migrated to an adjacent runway before Bender mercifully assisted on the throttle and yoke to get us airborne. 

Maintaining a steady altitude was also hard, and our flight had a bit of the roller coaster feel. 

Coming in for a landing, the plane careened toward a stand of trees, clipping the tops. My instructors advised me to get the nose up … oops, not that much. They directed me toward the airport. I turned, but too sharply for the low altitude. The students gasped as the plane stalled, crashing into the trees. 

Let me just say the simulator spares little in realistic effects of a crash. 

My simulator debacle gave me admiration for the students’ emerging flight skills. And just think, if they’ve learned this much in a little more than two months, who knows what’s on the horizon after they complete the Academy? 

Francis Bender, a Peninsula High School junior, pilots a small plane on a flight simulator at Peninsula School District’s Aviation Academy on Oct. 31, 2025. The Academy, located at Henderson Bay High School, is open to all juniors and seniors in the district. Slots in the program are available through a lottery. Photo by Christina T. Henry