Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
OGDEN — There is something about being a young high school student who gets a spark that leads to a career. Young people often struggle to find themselves in an increasingly complex world with so many options, unlike decades ago when counselors might just shrug with the best advice to offer is to keep your grades up and find yourself.
It was by happenstance that Jacob Williams stumbled into his passion, unknowingly, embracing a world that would forever change his life.
At 23, he is a pilot now, studying for his commercial license. He took some concurrent enrollment classes at Box Elder High School to get credits for his eventual journey to Utah State University.
"I was in high school and I wanted to have as many college credits as possible, so I was scrolling through all the concurrent enrollment classes that were offered at my high school, and there was a private pilot ground school course and aviation professions class. And I like that it would be not only college credits," he said. "It ended really being fun college credits. So I signed up for those classes, and I took it. And in those classes, I absolutely loved them, and that's when I decided that I wanted to become a pilot."
That is a lofty goal for a teenager and he and others enrolled in Future Farmers of America learned it was so much more than gleaning knowledge to care for pigs, sheep, horses, goats and of course, the esteemed profession of becoming a veterinarian — sadly in short supply in Utah and across the West. But that is important as well.
The discipline of learning
Williams works flight security at the Ogden Regional Airport. He has 250 nautical miles in the cockpit using IFR or instrument flight rules, which is guidance using instruments to take off, fly especially with next to nothing visibility. The visual flight rules are a bit more tricky and you are on your own, relying on your training. It might be more fun, to be high in the sky and see all that is around you and tap your skills.
Students who are involved in this FFA program, if they choose to learn the ins and outs of aviation, train to be the pilots of the next generation to get passengers safely where they need to go. The program has grown in popularity over the years. When he was at Box Elder High School more than two decades ago, Jason Bingham was the only FFA adviser. Now there are four, he said.
"There was probably about 100 FFA members when I began. And that was long time ago and, I just checked our enrollment this past year, so 2024, and we had 219 FFA members," Bingham said. "And we're anticipating even an greater growth this year because we just got our fourth teacher last year. And so we're growing and extending, working with more and more kids and introducing them to the opportunities in the FFA a little bit more all the time."
"And so we, every kid that walks through our door in the classroom, we invite them to be a part of the FFA. And I think that there's a place for every kid. It doesn't matter what their interest is — if it's public speaking, if it's animals, if it's mechanics, poultry, horses, natural resources, soil — there's a spot for every single kid in the FFA," Bingham said. "If we can help them to understand there's a place for them, and we'll welcome anybody and everybody who will come and be a part of it. We can find a place for them."
The tricky part of aviation and agriculture
A unique part of the FFA program is learning the skill of crop dusting, if you so choose with these young pilots. At first glance, it sounds easy. You fly low to the ground and release an application of fertilizer, pesticide.
Bingham says to check your assumptions at the door, and like going through security with TSA at the airport, be prepared for anything.
The lower you fly, the more obstacles you have to overcome. It is all fine and good to be above the ground, but when the fields are up front and close, you have to get low.
Bingham said a lot of the students are turning to high-tech drones, an extremely viable tool for this kind of work.
Others embrace being in the cockpit and navigating the challenges.
"There are spots where you just can't go. And a pilot might say, 'No, we can't spray there because of those inherent dangers.' Or, you know, too much residential, too many people and so, I mean, they have to take all those risks into account," Bingham said. "And absolutely they will say there are some places we just can't go. And I think that's one of the ways for places where our drone application is going to start driving in some of those smaller, more residential areas like that."
It is likely that some of these young aviation students will hone their skills, helping to put wholesome food on the table — and get a thrill out the challenge of flying close to the ground, eyeballing the risks and opportunities.
"I mean, they have to take all those risks into account," Bingham said. "But yeah, you have to be extremely skilled and experienced to be across a pasture."
