Events: Beyond a cut shirttail

At the Central Florida Aerospace Academy, located on the grounds of Lakeland Linder International Airport in Lakeland, Florida, they do things a bit differently. Shirttail clippings are replaced by red clay bricks placed permanently in the walkway that leads to the school’s main entrance. Now in the fifth year of this tradition, the number of lettered bricks is growing.

In November 2018, with a consistent breeze exacerbating the chill of an uncharacteristically cold Florida 49-degree day, 28 CFAA students lined up to receive recognition for an achievement they will treasure for a lifetime.

Keith Smith is the outgoing assistant-principal of CFAA. As the highest-ranking administrator on site since the school opened eight years ago, he’s seen these students and their predecessors arrive as sheepish young teens, only to leave four years later as confident, accomplished young men and women.

“It’s very rewarding for me,” said Smith of his work at CFAA as more than two dozen of his students stood nearby awaiting public acclaim. “I am very proud.”

High school senior Andrew Pitman was one of those to be honored. “Aviation has been my dream ever since I was 4 years old,” said Pitman. He is employed part-time at an aircraft maintenance facility near home, and is working on his airframe mechanic certificate while in high school.

In the air, his exploits have been impressive for a teenager. He soloed in a Light Sport aircraft, a Breezer, in Bartow, Florida—the same field where his grandfather soloed decades earlier.

“I soloed at Bartow so I could follow in my family’s footsteps,” Pitman said. Achieving the goal of having his name etched into this walkway is an ambition he’s carried for some time.

As part of his high school experience, Pitman won an essay contest that put him in the back seat of a North American P–51 flown by Lee Lauderback at Stallion 51 in Kissimmee, Florida. Pitman was impressed. “Compared to Light Sport, I don’t think a word could describe it,” he said, contrasting the performance of the World War II fighter over the LSA he has more experience with. “It was the best aviation ride I’ve ever had in my life.”

The Central Florida Aerospace Academy building was constructed thanks to the generosity and vision of James C. Ray and the James C. Ray Foundation. Many of the students whose names can be found in the front walkway of that building benefited from a flight training scholarship offered by the foundation. A new tradition has begun, in education, in achievement, and in recognition of that achievement.

Email [email protected]