FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – For sixteen Flagler County students, the dream of aviation moved from the classroom to the cockpit this summer thanks to the inaugural Teens-In-Flight Aviation Summer Camp, an intensive two-week program designed to introduce young people to the world of flight while removing financial barriers that often prevent students from pursuing aviation careers.
Led by nationally recognized aerospace educator and Teens-In-Flight founder Col. Jack Howell, the camp provided students with ground school instruction, flight simulator training, hands-on flight experience, and preparation for the FAA Private Pilot Knowledge Exam.
“This program was built for students whose families simply couldn’t afford this opportunity in a million years,” Howell said. “Everything was paid for. The textbooks, the flight time, the simulator training, and even the written exam.”
The cost of aviation training can be prohibitive, with Howell estimating the camp’s value at approximately $3,500 per student. Through support from CareerSource Brevard Flagler Volusia, the Heiser Foundation, the Ray Foundation, and community donors, students received access to training that could launch them toward careers as pilots, mechanics, engineers, and aerospace professionals.
CareerSource Brevard Flagler Volusia Operations Manager Ashley Ziemann said the partnership was a natural fit.
“We were looking for programs that we could support in Flagler County, our rural county in the region,” Ziemann explained. “The exam they’re taking is on the state’s master credential list, so it just organically fit perfectly. We’re supporting twelve students through grant funding because it’s a great investment in their future.”
CareerSource contributed funding for approximately 90 percent of the program costs for the twelve students it sponsored, utilizing both a Rural State Set-Aside Grant and support from Simply Healthcare.
For Camp Director and Certified Flight Instructor Jamie Handy, the experience was as rewarding as it was challenging.
Handy, who developed the curriculum from scratch, was tasked with creating an accelerated program that condensed months of aviation education into two intensive weeks.
“When Colonel Howell asked me to run the summer program, there really wasn’t a blueprint,” Handy said. “We knew each student needed flight time, simulator time, access to a private pilot ground school course, and the goal of completing their written exam. We built everything from there.”
Students were selected through a competitive application process that considered academic performance, passion for aviation, and demonstrated potential.
“These were some of the best kids,” Handy said. “They came from different backgrounds, but they all shared the same passion for STEM and aviation. Once they got into the cockpit together, those walls came down quickly. There’s an immediate trust that develops when you’re sharing that experience.”
Among those students was 16-year-old Frederick “Fred” Denker of Flagler Palm Coast High School, who already had aviation ambitions before applying.
“I was taking ground school earlier and had been involved in the Embry-Riddle program at FPC,” Denker said. “I thought this would accelerate my knowledge and get me ready to become a private pilot.”
When he learned he had been selected, Denker said he was thrilled.
“To be chosen from the applicants, I was pretty happy for a few hours,” he said with a smile.
The highlight, he said, was getting into the air.
“I got to fly up there,” Denker recalled. “It’s a feeling that you can’t really get anywhere else.”
Denker hopes to attend college, earn a bachelor’s degree, serve as a military pilot, and eventually fly commercially. He believes the camp has given him a significant head start.
“If I can get my pilot’s license, it gives me a greater chance at getting into an aviation-related college and gives me more information to go off of in general,” he said.
