Local student gets scholarship for private pilot license training

By JEFF STITT

jstitt@yourmvi.com

A McKeesport Area junior has earned a shot at getting his wings and hopes to head for the big skies over Florida this summer.

Cadet Aaron Elm, a member of the McKeesport Area High School Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, is planning to show the Mon Valley that the sky is the limit. He has received a scholarship to attend Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens to participate in a private pilot license training program this summer.

Maj. Bryan Carlson, a retired U.S. Air Force veteran and one of the advisors of McKeesport’s JROTC program, said Elm is one of 230 Air Force Junior ROTC cadets around the world to receive the scholarship from Headquarters Air Force Junior ROTC, Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala.

More than 1,340 cadets applied for one of the 230 scholarships, according to a statement from the district, which said there are more than 120,000 high school students enrolled in Air Force JROTC at more than 870 high schools in the United States and overseas. 

The scholarship covers transportation, room and board, academics and flight hours required to potentially earn a private pilot license and is valued at approximately $22,500.

Elm, who said the program runs from early June to late July, is beyond excited about his chance to learn how to pilot a plane, and so are his father, Aaron Elm Sr., and his stepmother, Julie Elm of White Oak.

“They’re super excited. They like think that I’m going to become their private pilot and fly them everywhere,” the 17-year-old said.

“I feel good,” Elm said when asked how he feels about heading to flight school. “I’m really excited to go down to Florida and like live two months on my own. It’ll be like preparation for college almost.”

He said that when the summer program has concluded, he’ll hopefully be certified to fly a single-engine aircraft on his own, and he’d like to find a way to take to the skies when he gets back home to stay in practice. 

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