This year, West Michigan Regional Airport partnered with Ottawa Area ISD’s futurePREP’d summer program. The futurePREP’d program connects students with businesses in the community to facilitate real-world work-based learning experiences. The goal of the program is to engage students in design thinking by solving a driving question with a community partner. The airport’s driving question was, “How can we create meaningful educational experiences using aviation as a pathway?”
Over the course of a few weeks, students explored local business partners, toured airport facilities and on-field partners, visited Gerald R. Ford International Airport, explored the wide array of careers in aviation, and learned about the airport’s role in our community. They worked together to answer their driving question and presented their solutions to the Authority Board, who were impressed with their creativity and professionalism. The solutions these students provided are in use by the Airport Authority today.
We welcomed a second cohort of students in the fall who continued the work of the summer cohort. We were pleased with the work they did to establish a more concrete plan on how to use the airport as an educational resource.
We loved mentoring students at the airport. Their passion for the project and their ability to gain a vast understanding of the airport’s goals and challenges in a short time period was inspirational. We look forward to hosting more students next summer.
