At Chelsea High School in Massachusetts, lessons are literally taking off. Inside a library that's transformed into a cockpit, students slide into simulator seats and practice the same skills they will use in the sky.

Veronica Zewdu moved from Ethiopia two years ago. Now she is learning to fly.

Chelsea students learn piloting

"My first flight experience was epic. It was crazy…my first flight was like, now it's real, like in reality," Zewdu said.

The simulator is the starting point.

"It's pretty interesting for people who want to become a pilot to see it as a simulator first and see how they like it," said Zewdu.

The aviation pathway at Chelsea High School is led by Jacquelyn Boyd. She pairs classroom lessons in math and science with hands-on training and trips to the airport.

"What I love about the students at Chelsea is that they come from all over the world and they speak all different kinds of languages, which is what we need in aviation. Why not have them learn something a different way, outside of the classroom, to real life experience?" Boyd said. "The pilot can't leave until he calculates all those numbers. And he knows that with the weight he has, he's going to get enough lift and get up in that air. That's a real life application. It's a big deal. We don't want to mess that up."

The lessons do not end in the simulator. Students bring what they learn to Beverly Airport, where they take discovery flights with instructors at Flight Level Aviation. The first steps are simple but real...a walk around inspection, a safety brief, a headset check. 

"It's just you and the clouds"

Jaden Hill is one of a dozen or so students who have participated in the program.

"Chelsea High School offers great opportunities for you to succeed, it's just up to you if you want to take advantage," Hill said. Asked what it feels like to be in the air, he did not hesitate. "Freedom. It's just you and the clouds. I never thought I'd be in the aviation industry at all."

Now the 18-year-old has flown a plane more than he has driven a car. He works as a refueler at Logan Airport and is building a path in aviation one shift at a time.

For Zewdu, flying is also about representation.

"It's 5 to 6% of women, which is crazy, and if we go deep, women of color are less than 1%," she said.

Boyd sees the same message land with her students again and again.

"It gives them the opportunity to see all of the world." said Boyd.

In Chelsea, students are not just learning about lift and drag. They are learning how far hard work can take them. And some of them are already on their way.