What's Your Region's Economic DNA? Lessons for CTE from an Aviation High School
Adam Snoddy, Principal of Butler Tech Aviation Center
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How can CTE listen to regional economic and workforce needs and build a vision so big that others can't help but support it?
In this episode of The TechEd Podcast, host Matt Kirchner sits down with Adam Snoddy, Principal of the Butler Tech Aviation Center, to explore how one district used its regional economic identity to design a world-class CTE program. Located between Cincinnati and Dayton—home to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Amazon’s CVG air hub, a web of regional airports, and one of the densest aviation job markets in North America—Butler Tech built a high school aviation program directly aligned to its region’s workforce DNA.
Adam walks us through how the program launched in 2019 and quickly outgrew its original model. Today, Butler Tech is opening a 20,000 sq. ft. aviation high school and 8,500 sq. ft. hangar, backed by $15 million in district, county, JobsOhio, and city investment. Students begin with a full sophomore-year “Introduction to Aviation” exploration before choosing pathways in Flight, Maintenance, or Engineering, with engineering intentionally grounded in maintenance fundamentals to create stronger systems thinkers and safer future engineers.
The real story? This aviation program is a template. Whether your region is built on advanced manufacturing, healthcare, logistics, energy, agriculture, or something entirely different, Butler Tech’s approach offers a roadmap for building CTE around local industry, future workforce demand, and transferable technical skills.
Listen to Learn:
- How regional economic DNA shaped Butler Tech’s aviation program and why every CTE district should start here
- What a $15 million aviation campus means for students, industry, and community partners
- Why Butler Tech begins 10th grade with a full exploration year before pathway selection
- How flight, maintenance, and engineering pathways work, and why engineering starts in the maintenance hangar
- What every CTE leader can take from this model, even if their region has nothing to do with aviation
Watch the Full Episode on YouTube
3 Big Takeaways from this Episode:
1. CTE should be built around regional economic DNA. Southwest Ohio’s aviation ecosystem—CVG, Wright-Patt, Joby, UPS, regional airports—creates unmatched demand for aviation talent. Butler Tech aligned its entire program to that reality, proving CTE is strongest when built around local industry needs and future workforce trends.
2. An exploration-first model helps students make smarter pathway decisions. Every student begins with “Intro to Aviation,” experiencing flight, maintenance, and engineering pathways. This helps students discover interests—and eliminate misaligned ones—long before making postsecondary commitments.
3. Hands-on systems training creates better technicians, engineers, and pilots. Butler Tech’s engineering pathway starts with maintenance fundamentals because employers consistently stress that engineers must understand the systems they design. Students build real-world intuition early, leading to safer, more capable graduates in any technical field.
Resources in this Episode:
- Learn more about Butler Tech's Aviation program
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