Tourism 10 Ohpaho Secondary students explore future careers in aviation

Students in the CTS Tourism 10 program at Ohpaho Secondary School are excited about the field of aviation, after exploring dozens of possible future careers in the field during a three-day aviation field trip earlier this month.

Through tours, simulators, and hands-on activities, students learned how many different jobs work together behind the scenes to keep air travel moving. The field trip took place at the Elevate Aviation Learning Centre in the Edmonton International Airport as well as a flight simulator facility in Cooking Lake.

“I think it [was] a really good learning experience,” says Grade 10 student Stephen. “It’s really hands-on. You can learn a lot of stuff, and you can discover career opportunities you never even thought of.”

The field trip was part of Ohpaho’s growing CTS (Career & Technology Studies) Tourism program, taught by Megan Zaremba. The class was first offered last year as an after-school pilot program before expanding into two full classes.

Zaremba said the trip gave students a chance to connect classroom learning to real-world careers in tourism and transportation.

“Most of it was really just learning about the different jobs that exist,” says Zaremba. “Students learned about careers they can start at 16 years old, careers that require college or university, and all the different opportunities available within aviation.”

Students toured airport facilities, visited aircraft maintenance shops, explored cargo operations, and heard from presenters including pilots, flight attendants, drone specialists, and ground crew workers.

At Cooking Lake, students climbed into a realistic flight simulator modelled after a real aircraft cockpit. They also used an air traffic control simulator that guided them through takeoffs and landings using AI prompts.

Grade 10 student Julia said the experience changed the way she thinks about aviation careers.

“I went into it not knowing a lot about aviation,” she said. “I learned about way more jobs than I originally knew and a lot more options within aviation.”

Julia is not alone in her discovery. According to Zaremba, "Some students started the trip listing maybe 10 aviation jobs [that they knew about]. By the end, their lists had grown to around 70.”

For Zaremba, one of the most memorable moments came when students were unexpectedly invited inside a unique cargo-passenger aircraft during one of the tours.

“Seeing their excitement was incredible,” she says. “Those are the experiences that help students picture themselves in future careers.”