Boston's high school aviation program gives students a chance to fly

BOSTON - If you want to learn a lesson in courage and going after a dream, look no further than 17-year-old Fahad Yasin. He's part of the STEM Aviation program at the Jeremiah E. Burke High School in Boston. Now, he's the program's first student to take flight.

"When I was younger, I really wanted to fly, but I never had the opportunity to do it. But now I can, so I'm going to do it," Yasin smiled.

Yasin has been part of Burke's Pathways Program since September. For the past nine months, Yasin's been taking aviation classes twice a week. On Tuesday, it was time for the real thing. Yasin took off from Norwood Memorial Airport with family and school officials cheering him on all the way. He  was calm and cool in the cockpit. "You feel the motion. You feel the wind. You feel the plane shake under turbulence," Yasin said. He flew for about 45 minutes - over Gillette Stadium and back.

And after a comprehensive safety check with his instructor Harry Scales, it was engine start and skies the limit.

"This is something awesome. The program is doing exactly what it was intendent to do - exactly. It's getting the kids from the classroom doing simulation into the aircraft," Burke Stem Aviation Program Director Marcus James said.

"The goal of these programs is to help students connect with what they are passionate about and hopefully help them develop skills within those passions and help them decide what to do after high school," Burke High School Career Pathways Coordinator Jennifer Lillis said.

After a perfect landing, there is no question what Yasin wants to become. "It was surreal. It's something else. My favorite part about it was when you take off, there's nothing underneath you - just you, the plane and everything else became small," Yasin said. He hopes to get his pilot's license and work for a commercial airline.

He hopes his classmates also follow his lead. "It does take a lot of work, but if you really want to do it, there is nothing stopping you. The opportunity is right there - just go for it. The hardest part is starting it," he smiled.

The Boston school district says it hopes to expand the Aviation program to other schools so more students can be exposed to careers in aviation.