Williamson County Schools Innovation Center Instructors Offer Career Jumpstarts

The opening of the Williamson County Innovation Center was enough to bring two aviation instructors out of retirement. 

After all, the $15.5 million and 26,000-square-foot center, which opened just ahead of the school year, now boasts the largest high school aviation program in the state. 

There are 205 students in the program this year, whittled down from nearly 350 applications, says aviation instructor Derek Rowe. 

“The amount of support we've got here from industry, from the community, it's amazing," Rowe says. “It really is.” 

Students have the opportunity to graduate from the innovation center program and high school with both their diploma and private pilot certificate in hand. Rowe, who also serves as the head of the Tennessee Aviation Initiative and vice president of the Tennessee Aviation Hall of Fame, is charged with making connections to scholarships for those who want to continue to college or flight school, sponsorships to pay for necessary flight hours and partnerships for jobs.

Students can also earn credits that transfer to Middle Tennessee State University’s aerospace program. 

Aviation instructor Jack Patterson, who formerly flew for the U.S. Air Force and Southwest, is interested to see how many underclassmen stick with the program for its four years.

Taking to the sky is a lot more math- and science-intensive than students often think. It also takes a bit longer than they imagine — 250 hours of flight time to get a commercial pilot certificate and at least 1,000 to fly for commercial airlines. But finding out if a field is for them is one of the key benefits of such a program, too. 

“I always enjoyed teaching and coaching and that kind of stuff over the years, and they had a neat concept here. It’s something different,” Patterson says. “My job, the way I understand it, is to just stoke fires of an enthusiasm for aviation that's already there in these kids.” 

The innovation center includes all 10 high schools in the Williamson County School District, which means some are making the trek to Franklin from further-flung areas of the county. 

“They make a sacrifice to come here,” Patterson says. “It’s important to them, too.”

Culinary arts instructor Donna Pearson teaches cooking and other hospitality skills in a hands-on environment. It’s her preferred way to learn, too. 

“Just telling me information is not gonna actually stay with me,” Pearson says. “I have to be immersed into the experience, and that's how the students are learning with me.” 

Students in the hospitality program learn how to cook, run a coffee shop and manage a hotel with a real commercial-grade kitchen, operating coffee shop, and mock hotel setup inside the space. They also partner with Columbia State’s hospitality program.  

“Everyone here signed up to be here, so it's a very unique experience for all of them,” Pearson says. “It's not just anyone who's just signed up just because they were bored one day. They actually chose to be here, and they were chosen to be here.”

Pearson points out that it’s a good time to get into the field. 

“Hospitality is such a strong force right now, especially here in Tennessee,” she says.  

It’s also a good time to get into a skilled trade, too, says Dan Poradek, an instructor in advanced power machinery. 

“Having students come out of high school and go into skilled trades is unheard of these days, for the most part,” he says. “That's one thing we want to get back into.” 

Poradek is teaching a range of students. Some want to run heavy machinery, some want to be electromechanical engineers, some want to contribute to their family businesses and some want to start their own. He has students who make electric bikes, repair lawnmowers and weld in their free time, with others new to machinery.  

Students have the opportunity to do work-study and a direct line to enroll in the Tennessee College of Applied Technology, which partners with Williamson County Schools on the program. 

“I think a lot of students are really thinking about job security, skilled trades pays decent money, and we have a lot of skilled tradespeople retiring, and those jobs are just open,” he says.