Colleagues,
We are excited to share this terrific piece from Greater Lawrence Tech!
“Adding programs like the new aviation maintenance one will allow the school to continue to expand and accept more kids. Greater Lawrence Technical School has about 1,900 students enrolled this year.’
“This will be life changing for the kids who get into the program,” Superintendent John Lavoie said.
David
GREATER LAWRENCE TECHNICAL SCHOOL
Tech school’s aviation program takes flight
By Angelina Berube | aberube Sep 9, 2025
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<![endif]>ANDOVER — It’s not every day a ninth-grader’s introduction to high school includes removing the wing of a small plane as a massive aircraft hangar serves as the backdrop for the classroom.
Still, that’s what happened as the Greater Lawrence Technical School’s freshman class made their way to the aviation hangar inside the school for the beginning of the 2025-26 school year last Tuesday. It’s something few students in the state can say they’ve had the opportunity to experience. The technical school’s aviation maintenance program finally took flight after four years and many obstacles. In July, the Federal Aviation Administration formally approved the $7.5 million program, followed by the Healey-Driscoll Administration announcing the career technical education program. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education also approved the program in the spring.
The GLTS aviation program is only the second of its kind in the state. The other is in Westfield. Superintendent John Lavoie said while there have been many challenges to getting the program up and running, it is now poised to accept more students and continue to expand.
The curriculum first was delayed pending FAA certification. The school was required by the FAA to have its own hangar at Greater Lawrence Municipal Airport, a process that began in early 2024, Lavoie said. The school also needed to build a 10th-grade workshop in preparation for the program to begin. <![if !vml]><![endif]>
“Many times, I want to say, ‘Forget this, this is crazy, this is never going to happen,’ but it’s finally here,” Lavoie said. Idea started years ago
Lawrence City Council President Jeovanny Rodriguez first recommended the program several years ago to Vivian Marmol, a former School Committee member turned city councilor. School officials then researched the job market for airplane maintenance before submitting for approval to the Department of Education, as the school does with all its new programs. The students in the program will be trained to work on the frame of a plane, which includes its exterior, wings and metal parts. The FAA will come in twice a year and assess the students’ work. All student documents are required to be locked in a special room.
This is the moment aviation instructor Johnny Turner has been waiting for. He developed the program’s curriculum for about three years when the school first tried to get it up and running. On the first day of class Tuesday, Turner told his students to take pictures as they were a part of history with the launch of the program. “It was special to see all of them really excited,” he said. “And some of them actually had aviation knowledge. When they knew an answer to a question I asked, it made my day. The kids are really what this is all about.”
Turner earned his Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) license in his home state of Texas. He began his career as a mechanic. During the second half of his career, he said he wanted to give his knowledge to the next generations of mechanics. Before coming to GLTS, Turner worked at the National Aviation Academy in Concord, Massachusetts.
Shortage of mechanics
Turner said these types of schools will help address the current shortage of mechanics in the industry. In a few years, GLTS will be able to place A&P-certified mechanics into the workforce after the first-class graduates. While he has taught in the field before, this is the first time he’s joined a program in its infancy. But he’s seen what earning aviation credentials has done for the students he previously taught elsewhere.
“I have so many former students who are out in the field now and it makes me proud,” Turner said. “That’s what I want for these high school students. I know where this can take them. They don’t see it yet, but I know where their end goal is because I’ve been there just like them.”
The aviation curriculum is set for the freshman class, and includes airframe and powerplant mechanics, along with exterior repair of small aircraft like helicopters and experimental planes. The class needed to incorporate both FAA and state standards for aviation. Turner will continue to develop the curriculum for the 10th-, 11th- and 12th-grade classes as the program evolves.
The school will seek a second certification to work on aircraft engines in the future. The FAA recommended starting the program with the framework, Lavoie said. The school also plans to eventually partner with an aviation flying school that can be a part of a student’s extracurricular work for those interested in becoming pilots.
Pilots of the future
Turner said there are students who are at GLTS now who took the aviation exploratory course as freshmen a few years ago before it was stopped and have carried on their passion for the subject. A GLTS junior is flying now after taking flight lessons at Greater Lawrence Municipal Airport.
There are benefits for students who take the aviation mechanics program if they want to become pilots one day as they learn the systems better.
The pilot class into the aviation program will be set in the spring, admitting 14 to 15 students. Freshmen began their exploratory classes to decide what shops to pursue. Exploratory workshops will continue until the third quarter. “We’ve tried to get to that point for two to three years now and finally this year we get to do it,” Turner said.
“We don’t know if there will be 20 kids who want it or 180 kids, but we plan to keep numbers low because it’s a new program,” Lavoie said.
A grand day on the way. Turner said when the students are finally admitted to the program and he begins teaching theory, it will be “a grand day.”
The students will also head over to Greater Lawrence Municipal Airport during the program and see GLTS’ Learjet and small plane. Lavoie said more training equipment and tools will be here soon, like a plane originally from Louisiana slated to arrive this month.
Adding programs like the new aviation maintenance one will allow the school to continue to expand and accept more kids. Greater Lawrence Technical School has about 1,900 students enrolled this year. “This will be life changing for the kids who get into the program,” Lavoie said.
Chapter 74 Vocational Technical & Aggricultural Education
LEARNING THAT WORKS FOR MASSACHUSETTS
David J. Ferreira
MAVA Communications Coordinator
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