Watch Now: Conversation takes flight between Steil, aviation students

RACINE— It's important that young people know that with hard work, they can reach for the stars, but some kids prefer to take to the skies.

U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., visited with students Thursday in the aviation program of The Academies of Racine at Horlick High School to discuss the future of the industry. Steil, whose 1st Congressional District includes all of Racine and Kenosha counties, was joined by representatives of DeltaHawk, an aircraft engine manufacturer with headquarters in Racine. DeltaHawk is a partner in the Academies of Racine aviation program.

"The barriers of entry into aviation are massive," said James Bucholtz, aviation teacher for The Academies. "You stumble onto it in three ways: Either you have a relative in it, you were in the military or you stumble into it."

The aviation industry has been struggling to find new recruits as of late. While the need for pilots is steady, the aviation field is still relatively niche and inaccessible to most students, not to mention the financial toll the program could cost, with student loans or scholarships potentially being difficult to obtain. These are the problems that The Academies of Racine are trying to resolve by making industries such as aviation more accessible to young students willing to learn.

"Anything we can do to help these students get that exposure and help achieve their goals is only going to help the industry," said Jon Heup, DeltaHawk vice president of operations.

One student, Jacob, spoke about how he uses his expertise in the field, and how he's using his drone certification to start his own real estate photography business.

"What I am actually going to do, I am yet to decide," Jacob said.

While their future remains unwritten, students like Jacob and others in The Academies of Racine have a leg up to achieve their dreams, whether to the skies or even higher.

This meeting with aviation students was one of two events Steil held with students at Horlick on Thursday. He spoke earlier in the school auditorium in a more open-forum discussion, where students asked him questions on topics ranging from inflation to the inner workings of Congress.