Successful Stratospheres: Engaging programs help North Star students form high-flying futures

September 5, 2025

North Star High School students like David and Liam are soaring into clear career skies by exploring two engaging programs at Lincoln Public Schools.
 
The Navigators are taking part in both the LPS Aviation and Technical Education Focus Program and the SkillsUSA Nebraska organization. They are learning about many aviation-based jobs through their involvement with the programs, which are separate entities but share the same educational missions. The goal of both groups is to help students learn about career and technical education (CTE) occupations and become skilled professionals in those fields.
 
Liam, a senior, first learned about SkillsUSA when he joined the focus program as a sophomore. He began SkillsUSA activities the following year and has enjoyed meeting people who share the same interests.
 
“It’s really nice community,” Liam said. “I made a lot of new friends here. We hang out. It’s fun.”

 
David, a sophomore, said both organizations will help him launch his career in aviation maintenance after high school. He attended his first SkillsUSA meeting this fall with many current and future members. He smiled as he competed in a Lego race car challenge with them on North Star’s campus.
 
David said activities like the car races are providing a good foundation for his aviation dreams. Focus program students learn how to read technical drawings, analyze electrical systems and fix aircraft parts, and SkillsUSA teenagers work on projects, enter contests and meet people from across the state.
 
“I think they are important because once you understand this, this can help you build onto your skills with something bigger, like the aircraft here,” David said.
 
Amanda Woodward said both programs are allowing students like David and Liam to chart exciting educational courses. Woodward teaches focus program classes and advises North Star’s SkillsUSA chapter. She was honored this past spring as the SkillsUSA Nebraska Advisor of the Year for her positive influence on students.
 
LPS began offering aviation classes in 2019-20 and dedicated a state-of-the-art airplane hangar in 2023. More than 300 students are now taking classes in the focus program. Many Navigators are accessing extra knowledge through their SkillsUSA activities after school hours.
 
“I think that at the end of the day, every single kid in high school is looking for a place to go and make friends and belong and be a part of something,” Woodward said. “And so I think that whether they are first in the aviation focus program or they’re first in SkillsUSA, I think the overlap is just like, ‘Oh, there’s a thing I can do after school that is going to be fun and exciting, and I can make friends,’ and so they want to be there.”
 
Woodward said the activities shine a light on the unlimited options students have in trades-based careers. Focus program classes like Power Mechanics, Advanced Aviation Flight and Advanced Aviation Maintenance teach them about jobs such as flight engineers, service technicians and industrial truck operators. SkillsUSA contests encompass more than 130 CTE occupations ranging from architectural blueprint reading to mobile robotics technology.
 
“I think it really, for me, it comes down to kids can’t pursue careers they don’t know about,” Woodward said. “There are so many well-paying, in-demand, incredible smart-thinking, intellectually stimulating careers in the trades that you never think of. I think a lot of time kids know about being a teacher, being a firefighter, being a doctor, being a nurse or a welder. But, you know, there’s thousands of different trades careers that we could get you into, and there is definitely a spot for everybody.”
 
Liam said that variety has made it fun to be in both groups. His willingness to learn new information has also opened many educational doors for him.
 
One of those moments came last year when Liam and six other Navigators guided younger students at the SkillsUSA Nebraska Middle School Skills Championships. The group developed games, led breakout sessions and judged contests during their time there.
 
Liam said all middle and high school students can benefit from being involved in SkillsUSA.
 
“If you like competitions or there’s a hobby that you really like, SkillsUSA tends to have competitions for the design stuff,” Liam said. “Give it a shot, at least be there for the community. I’m able to connect with it.”

 
Leading both programs has allowed Woodward to spread her trades-based knowledge to even more students. She shared how several girls were eager to learn how to weld last spring, but they weren’t able to find time during the school day. Woodward set up meetings with them during her SkillsUSA sessions to teach the new talent to them. That same flexibility has helped many other Navigators soar into successful learning stratospheres at North Star.
 
“When kids are engaged in these aviation focus program classes during the day and they want to be somewhere after school, there is nothing better than letting them come here and do an extension of what they learned in the classroom after school hours,” Woodward said. “And then planning a field trip for them to learn even more through our after-school arm of the aviation focus program, because we have set field trips for our classes. But SkillsUSA can do a field trip after school to places where we might not be able to take 80 kids to during the day. And so it just extends the opportunities and the possibilities that are available.”
 
Want to see how your future can take flight with our Aviation and Technical Education Focus Program at North Star? Explore how you can customize your high school experience at aviation.lps.org.

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