NCDOT awards funds to ILM, Bladen County airport for Career Education Academies

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The  N.C. Department of Transportation’s Division of Aviation recently awarded $3,000 grants to 10 airports to assist with hosting aviation and aerospace-themed summer academies for middle and high school students.

Curtis L. Brown, Jr. Field in Bladen County and the Wilmington International Airport were two of the airports to receive funding.

The rapid growth of the aerospace and unmanned aircraft system sectors offers many job opportunities for North Carolinians in the aerospace field. The 2023 Aviation Career Education (ACE) Academy Grant Program aims to inspire and expose the next generation of talent to those careers, a press release stated.

Academy topics include aviation history, career discovery and planning, and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS, or drones). Academies feature various activities, such as hands-on drone and airplane flight simulations and trips to aerospace fields.