Eagle Mountain’s new Cedar Valley High School will offer concurrent aviation courses
Visitors take a self-guided tour of Cedar Valley High School after the ribbon cutting ceremony August 17, 2019.
Scott Romney, with GOED, announces that Cedar Valley High School will be part of the Utah Rotor Pathway program on August 17, 2019.
Cedar Valley High School Principal Courtney Johnson speaks at the ribbon cutting for the high school on August 17, 2019.
Crowds flocked to Cedar Valley High School on Saturday for the grand opening of Eagle Mountain’s first district high school.
The aviation-themed event was well-fitting for a school in which the hallways are called terminals, the gymnasium is called the “hanger,” and aviation-themed decor is scattered around the high school.
But it’s not just the decor that screams “airplanes” — the curriculum will also be among the first in the country to offer aviation education through the Utah Rotor Pathway.
The Utah Rotor Pathway program is being launched by Talent Ready Utah, and will allow students at participating schools to take concurrent enrollment classes through Southern Utah University. It’s designed for students interested in helicopter aviation or those who want to become pilots or technicians.
“SUU has one of the best programs for teaching mechanics and pilots in the helicopter field, so they’re offering online classes that are stackable and concurrent enrollment classes,” said Scott Romney, with the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. The program will also be available in Iron County and Washington School District, Romney said.
SUU is trying to spread the knowledge of its instructors in every place it can, and they’re also offering learning opportunities with partners like Intermountain Life Flight so kids can come in and get a feel for what flying a helicopter would really be like.
“It’s an opportunity you’re not going to find anywhere else in the country right now,” Romney said.
Those classes will be available to juniors starting this fall, Romney said.
“Then, by the time they take two years of college, they can be pilots,” Romney said.
Prior to the ribbon cutting and announcement, the grand opening included multiple other aviation-themed events, including an appearance by Gail “Candy Bomber” Halvorsen, an air show, and special guests including Brig. Gen. Jake Garn, Congressional Gold Medal recipient Alice Lee Ludlow, and Melinda Barnes and Melinda Linder, widows of fallen Utah National Guard Blackhawk pilots Clayton Barnes and James Linder.
At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Alpine School District Superintendent Samuel Jarman thanked taxpayers for the support to fund the new building.
“We hope that your children and children’s children will get to enjoy this facility,” Jarman said.
Assistant principal Scott Mansfield encouraged those in attendance to take care of, love and respect the building.
“I visited over 100 high schools in Utah, and this is the finest facility in Utah,” Mansfield said. “Thank your school board for that kind of support, please.”
After the ribbon was cut, hundreds of people rushed into the school for self-guided tours. Classes at Cedar Valley will officially start Tuesday.
