Hallmark University is excited to announce the beginning of the second year of Aero CHI (Aerospace College Head-start Institute). Participants in the Aero CHI program are from San Antonio’s NEISD which includes students who completed their first year of Aero CHI in May, as well as a new group beginning their career in aviation training.
Hallmark University’s Aero CHI program began in the summer of 2017 after the Boeing Company released a report detailing a potential shortage of trained aviation maintenance technicians over the next 20 years. Aero CHI will train the needed aviation professionals while providing a direct career path for students after high school, providing services to San Antonio’s vast aerospace industry.
“It is a pleasure to now have 35 of these young students on campus, as they complete both general aviation and powerplant subjects,” said Doretta Gutierrez, Dean of Hallmark University’s College of Aeronautics. “The seniors are looking forward to getting out and tearing down the reciprocating engines, while the new juniors will be out taxiing in the Cessna by Thanksgiving. It is great to see the excitement in their eyes as they are learning and doing these new tasks, and hopefully, they are beginning their paths to a new career.
Students receive training on a range of different aeronautical assets at Hallmark’s College of Aeronautics at the San Antonio International Airport, including a jet engine donated from Southwest Airlines and the Gulfstream III corporate jet. These students learn about engine repairs and services, aviation physics, aircraft drawing and more during their full two years in Aero CHI. The success Aero CHI has seen can be attributed to the partnership between NEISD and Hallmark University. This partnership showcases the pair’s commitment to providing promising opportunities to the community’s youth. Students can continue their aeronautics training right after finishing high school, allowing them to begin their career far sooner than normal.