SkyOp launches drone training STEM initiative

SkyOp LLC announced a new initiative to pair interestedcorporate sponsors with local school districts that are eager to launch highschool drone training STEM programs. Following the recent release of its SkyOpDrone Training Curriculum, the company was overwhelmed with school districtsexcited to adopt the workforce development curriculum for high school juniorsand seniors, but many interested districts faced age-old constraints oneducation funding. With experts highlighting a growing need for expanded STEMprograms, and employers nationwide finding it increasingly difficult to hiredrone pilots with the necessary data collection and analytics skills, SkyOp ishoping to help bridge the gap and tackle this national issue.

For employers in aerospace, defense, engineering,agriculture and other fields, entry-level employees with the necessary dronepilot skills, as well as the associated data collection and analysis know-how,are increasingly difficult to find. This skill gap is not unique to dronepilots though. According to Talia Milgrom-Elcott, Co-Founder of 100Kin10, “Witha growing skills gap leaving millions of jobs unfilled, we need creativesolutions to ensure all students have access to STEM, which we know is acritical component of a child's education that leads to lifelong benefits.Investments in STEM education at the local level create opportunity for allkids.”

Through its new initiative, SkyOp is looking to identifycorporations interested in sponsoring drone STEM education in local high schoolsto afford students an opportunity to immerse themselves in a rapidly growingand well-paying career path. Not only will such private/public partnershipshelp ensure the skills for their workforce, but also businesses can know theyare making a long-term investment in their local community. For industriesexpanding their drone applications, investing in the local workforce can helpthem satisfy their own hiring needs while driving brand visibility on numerousfronts.

STEMconnector recently published a report looking to definethe benefits of such private STEM sponsorships. In its Input to Impact: AFramework for Measuring Success Across the STEM Ecosystem, STEMconnector notesthat a sponsorship in high school STEM, which SkyOp is targeting, can helpbusinesses drive talent development by creating the local workforce andskill-sets to feed its own future needs. Additional benefits the reporthighlights include building brand positioning, visibility and socialstewardship while also differentiating the company as an employer of choice fordiverse STEM talent.

“It’s our hope that we can bring corporate entitiesinterested in investing in their local communities together with their localschool districts to build the in-demand skilled workforce that will benefit allparties,” said Brian Pitre, SkyOp LLC’s chairman of the Board. “The dronetraining curriculum that we’ve designed allows school districts to implementexperiential learning programs that not only expose students to career-drivingSTEM skills, but allow students to graduate the program as fully-licensed FAAdrone pilots with the full complement of data collection and analysis skillsneeded to immediately enter this growing workforce.”

Following a successfully completed pilot program inpartnership with Hudson Valley Community College and the U.S. Department ofLabor through its U.S. Job Corps in Oneonta, New York, the SkyOp Drone TrainingCurriculum has also been deployed in numerous school districts including theSalamanca City Central School District, Sullivan County Board of CooperativeEducational Services (BOES) and the Questar III BOCES.