Speakers at a meeting described the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System’s aviation maintenance and logistics program at Grove’s CTAE Building as a workforce-focused pathway that mirrors employer facilities and connects students to job opportunities with local partners. Speaker 2, Commenter, said, “We wanted this building to mimic the workplace.”

The program, which speakers said has operated since 2021, moved students from being bused to Savannah Technical College to on-site instruction at Grove’s CTAE Building. Speaker 1, SCCPSS representative, said the building “Feels like it, looks like it, okay, even smells like it. It's designed that way.” He added that the labs were modeled on employer sites: “If you go, and visit Gulfstream, you'll see these exact same labs and that's where we receive our footprint from,” a comment attributed in the transcript to Speaker 2.

Speakers emphasized job and credential outcomes. Speaker 2, Commenter, said, “Allowing a student to graduate and make $50,000 a year straight out of high school with a technical college certificate, where really they have 3 certificates once they leave here, is phenomenal.” Speaker 4, Commenter, said, “We employ over 13,000 employees in Savannah, so we're always looking, for great talent,” linking local employer demand to student pathways.

Program partners named in the discussion included Gulfstream Aerospace and Savannah Technical College; Speaker 1 said Savannah’s largest employer has been “one of SCCPSS’s strongest business partners.” Speakers described the Grove CTAE Building as the district’s hub for Career, Technical and Agricultural Education (CTAE) and said students can earn multiple certificates that may allow immediate entry into the workforce or later pursuit of two- or four-year degrees.

Discussion only: the transcript records descriptive remarks about the program and partnerships but shows no formal motions, votes, or policy decisions in this excerpt. No funding amounts, enrollment counts, or specific placement rates were provided in the recorded remarks.

For SCCPSS, Speaker 1 concluded, “Unique experiences in workforce readiness. The aviation maintenance and logistics pathways are giving students a chance to soar to new heights.”