This year’s camp was held at Southside Virginia Community College (SVCC) with Zack McKinney as the instructor. Zack has his own IT business in the town of Keysville and is on the Search and Rescue Team located in Fort Pickett. Zack is certified to operate sUAS which are also known as drones.
Youth attended from all over the region. There were some from Charlotte, Cumberland, Halifax, Mecklenburg, and Prince Edward counties. Some Youth were transported to SVCC by the Employment Specialists and Coordinator of the WIOA Youth program run by STEPS, Inc. Others had their own transportation to the camp. The Youth were served breakfast, lunch, and a snack every day. Each participant was given a drone to use for the camp and keep after the camp to continue to practice and learn.
During the camp, all the Youth we able to listen to instruction and information from the instructor then took the Trust Certification which allowed them to legally fly recreational drones. Zack was very interactive in his instruction.
He explained about drone operation and the certification training offered by SVCC. He told of job opportunities in Southside Virginia for people that can gain this certification. Even part-time jobs are available through realtors that now hire drone operators and pay approximately $150 per picture. Zack taught the students about safety and how to properly fly the drones abiding by FAA regulations.
Zack also brought in guests such as Mark Daniels of SVCC who is also on the Search and Rescue Team. Mark brought his search drone and showed the students how to fly it. He explained about the special cameras with infra-red lights to aid in night vision and the spotlight to search the ground below.
Another guest speaker was Keith Mottas, the owner of Atlantic Drone Pros, out of Richmond, Virginia. His company sells services that deal with drones, even Artificial intelligence. He gave the young people an idea of what type of jobs with the salaries of different professions that he hires for this industry. Keith shared that he currently had three open positions that required a Bachelor’s in some type of aviation and three years in Artificial Intelligence that would start making $125,000 a year. He also told them about drones becoming the “Ubers” of the future.
The Youth did a fantastic job at flying the drones. They were able to fly them inside and outside. They flew them through obstacles.
On Thursday of the camp, the WIOA Youth staff transported the Youth to Fort Pickett in Blackstone, Virginia to visit the Search and Rescue Teams’ headquarters. There the Youth learned about various search and rescue missions, how to join the team, and space adventures with drones. One of the favorite activities the Youth were able to do was to play with the flight simulators. Youth were able to see how it feels to take off, fly, and land an airplane. It was amazing!
On Friday, Zack created an obstacle course. It entailed flying on straight lines, under/over chairs, through hula hoops, and sticking a landing. The Youth got two chances to complete this course and they were timed. Mark Daniels came back to help time and judge the competition. There were also other guests from SVCC that came, observed, and cheered for the Youths’ success. There was a first, second, and third place winner that received metals and $100, $50, $25 gift cards to Walmart. This was an impressive experience. The Youth were rooting for each other, and the team spirit was excellent.
Overall, this was an enlightening week for these young people and for those that took the opportunity to visit and learn from this experience. The Youth gained a certification in flying recreational drones, learned how to navigate a drone, and explored career and training opportunities in this field. As one of the participants, Blair Cisco, said on the last day of the camp, “I am so sad this is ending, I have learned a lot and met some really great friends this week!” Thanks to all the challenging work and team effort the WIOA Staff put into this week, it was an enormous success!