Peaslee Tech helps Lawrence graduate launch aviation career

Noelle Fisher did not grow up in an aviation family, and she did not have the childhood moment many pilots describe when they first know they want to fly. Instead, the recent Lawrence High School graduate found a different entry point in Lawrence: Peaslee Tech’s new aviation program, which helped turn an interest into a career plan.

Fisher was among the students in Peaslee Tech’s first-year Pre-apprenticeship: Introduction to Aviation course, a 180-hour program the center launched last fall. Peaslee Tech said four area high school students were in the first class, while Fisher was in a class of six students in the program’s inaugural year. The course was free for her, and she said more students would likely take advantage of it if they knew it existed.

The training went well beyond cockpit basics. Students used Microsoft Flight Simulator with a Cessna 152, earned a Ground School Basics certificate, became licensed drone pilots and got to fly in an airplane thanks to Dave McFarlane and McFarlane Aviation. Peaslee Tech said the course also introduced students to ground crews, maintenance and other aviation jobs, building a broader pipeline into the industry rather than a narrow focus on piloting alone.

That matters in Douglas County, where Peaslee Tech says the local aviation community asked for the program. Kevin Kelley, the center’s CEO, said the previous Lawrence airport manager told him companies at Lawrence Regional Airport need workers, and he said Vinland Aerodrome in south-central Douglas County was also interested in a program. Peaslee Tech tested interest through aviation clubs at area high schools, where 19 students showed up on a September morning.

The program is part of a larger workforce effort at Peaslee Tech, a 78,000-square-foot public, nonprofit technical training center in Lawrence. The center says high school juniors and seniors can choose pre-apprenticeship options in aviation and other fields, and it says it has more than 25 registered apprenticeship programs approved by the Kansas Apprenticeship Commission. Peaslee Tech also partners with 12 area high schools and wants to serve 400 high school students annually by Jan. 1, 2030, while pursuing a $10 million Peaslee Promise endowment campaign to support debt-free training.

Fisher’s next move keeps that pipeline in view. She is working toward her private pilot’s license, plans to attend Kansas State University’s Salina location and hopes to become an airline pilot. The career path is attractive for a reason: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says airline and commercial pilots had a 2024 median pay of $198,100, and it projects 4% employment growth from 2024 to 2034, with about 18,200 openings a year on average. The Federal Aviation Administration’s FY 2026-2046 aerospace forecasts still track pilots as a major workforce category, which is why programs like Peaslee Tech’s may matter well beyond one Lawrence graduate.