JACKSONVILLE, Fla — An emerging industry needs more workers and one Duval County school is getting its students prepared in a unique way.
The drone pilot program at Frank H. Peterson Academies of Technology is expanding this school year and allows students to get their drone pilot's licenses by the time they graduate. It's all about making students more employable.
"That felt pretty good," said 11th grader Jerriel Perez after flying a drone in class. "Honestly, my dream has always been being a pilot. I've been studying pretty hard for this and I really love it."
By the end of high school, Perez will have a job qualification many adults don't have. There are currently more than 280,000 certified remote pilots, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
"The ultimate goal is for the students to get their remote pilot license," said aviation instructor Marcus Campbell.
Campbell says the school pays for the course and testing for students to get their drone pilot's licenses. This saves students and their families more than $300 and can put students' resumes at the top of a list.
"Immediately using their license to make money," said aviation instructor Kyle Claypool. "They are being used anywhere from agriculture to the film industry all the way to, in the future, to hopefully delivering packages for Amazon."
Demand for drone pilots is soaring and expected to grow by over 50 percent in the next five years, reports Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology. This means a growing number of jobs reportedly with six-figure salaries.
Perez wants to go into the military and this experience gets him feeling excited and ready to fly.
"It's exciting, honestly," Perez said. "Probably like the best thing I've ever done this year. I'm ready to go into the real world."
Perez's classmate Kevin Velazquez wants to be a fighter pilot and feels a similar way about flying the drones in his class.
"It makes me feel accomplished in some way," Velazquez said. "It makes me feel like I'm doing something that I love and that I actually, I have a passion for so it just makes me feel at peace. I think it's all about the love you got."
Campbell says they have half a dozen drones at the school. Several other schools across the district now have some as well.