New Aspen School District aviation teacher lands in the right place

Kate Short found a career that suits both of her passions: education and flying. 

The Aspen School District (ASD) hired Short to be the new aviation and aeronautics instructor Sept. 30. With an extensive background in both education and aviation, Short feels she landed in the right place.

“I enjoy teaching and I enjoy aviation,” Short said. “So it’s kind of the perfect marriage for me.”

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Short previously taught aviation at ASD between 2019 and 2021. Upon returning, she strives to help students pursue career interests in aviation and instill curiosity in the classroom. 

“Students should leave my classes knowing more about the area of aviation and aerospace. We’re focusing on that here,” Short said. “But I also want them to leave each year being curious and excited about what they can do in the upcoming years or in their future careers.”

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She said she tries to predominantly focus on three points with her seventh through 12th grade classes: passion for aviation, critical thinking and a safety mindset. Successful pilots need to be excited and motivated, they need to be equipped to make quick decisions, and they need to be safe for their own sake and for those they take flying, she said. 

She also teaches them about flight history and works with them in flight simulations at the school. If they choose to do so, students can leave the ground outside of class with the Aspen Flight Academy once they turn 14. They can earn their private pilot’s certificate by the time they turn 17.

Before aviation, Short got her credentials in teaching shortly after graduating from college. She worked a couple different jobs in education, including running a Sylvan Learning Center, which provides one-on-one tutoring to students. But soon, she found herself at a crossroads in her professional career. 

“I was at a point in my life where I was really looking for some sort of personal growth opportunity and challenge,” Short said. 

So she took to the sky. 

Short got her flight ratings and worked as a flight instructor for the personal aviation flight company, Cirrus, in Dallas and Phoenix. She also worked as a pilot. When she was last working in Aspen, she worked for the Aspen Flight Academy in addition to teaching, which partners with the ASD to help students learn to fly. 

Aspen Flight Academy Board of Directors President Randall Brodsky said her experience in both aviation and education makes her unique. 

“We want somebody who understands what it takes to become a pilot, and understands what it means to be a pilot. So the fact that she’s got her (pilot’s) license, and all that experience is what makes her a bit of a unicorn, because she also has her teaching certificate,” Brodsky said. “… She’s got all that experience already in the school system, specifically (in) our school system.”

Growing up, Short said she didn’t see a lot of women in aviation, one of the reasons she waited until later to pursue a career in the industry. She hopes to help change that.

“One of the things I’m always really passionate about is hopefully encouraging other young girls and women to get excited about aviation. It’s a sector of the economy that women are less involved in proportionally — that’s changing, which is amazing.” Short said. “I hope that I can help to be a part of fostering a love of aviation in all of my students, but hopefully also be a role model for my female students, too.”

Short said she also wants to expand the program. She helps students apply for scholarship opportunities from the Aspen Flight Academy to get the cost of flight lessons covered, which can cost up to $25,000. The scholarship funding predominantly comes from the Aspen Flight Academy’s annual Gala in October, where well-known pilots deliver speeches.

Getting students in the air via the scholarship funding is hugely beneficial for many aspects of the students’ lives, regardless of whether or not they want to pursue a career in aviation, Brodsky said.

“We’re finding out from all our students, and they’ll use these exact words. They’re saying, ‘It changed my life,'” Brodsky said, adding, “the life skills they’re learning at 16 to become a pilot — of discipline, the decision making we put them through, the dedication it takes … those are things they are going to use throughout their entire life.”

Students are drawn from around the valley to ASD’s aviation program. Basalt resident and Aspen High School senior Griffin Hartley said he chose to study in Aspen so he could learn to fly.

“It makes me feel free,” said Hartley, referring to flying. “It’s definitely a career that not many people get in anyways, so it helps me be unique.”

Skyler Stark-Ragsdale can be reached at 970-429-9152 or email him at sstark-ragsdale@aspentimes.com.