MERRITT ISLAND – A top NASA education official is spending Thursday in Brevard County classrooms, touring two Merritt Island campuses where students are training for aerospace and technology jobs before they ever pick up a diploma.
Brevard Public Schools announced that Elaine P. Ho, associate administrator for the Office of STEM Engagement at NASA Headquarters in Washington, will visit Merritt Island High School and Edgewood Jr./Sr. High School on Thursday, Aug. 27, for what the district described as a firsthand look at how classroom learning is converting into real-world aerospace and technology careers.
Ho leads NASA’s agency-wide education portfolio, a job NASA says centers on connecting students nationwide with the agency’s missions and building a talent pipeline for the broader aerospace industry. She was named to the post in December 2024, succeeding longtime STEM chief Mike Kincaid.
What the tour covers
At Merritt Island High School, NASA officials are scheduled to visit the Astronautics and Flight Exploration (AFEX) Academy, where students train on aeronautics and flight systems alongside instructors and industry partners, and the school’s Cloud Computing and Virtualization program.
The tour then moves to Edgewood Jr./Sr. High School, where students in the Robotics Lab will meet with the visiting officials and demonstrate their work.
The Space Florida connection
Brevard is one of 23 Florida school districts operating under the Space Florida Academy Program, a workforce initiative launched in August 2024 at a memorandum of understanding signing in Exploration Park. Space Florida, the state’s aerospace finance and development authority, built the program around connecting students to high-demand credentials and skills the industry needs, including credentials not traditionally viewed as aerospace pathways.
The idea behind the program is largely a rebranding and alignment exercise: most Florida high schools already offer certificate and credential coursework the aerospace sector values, and the academy designation packages those courses as a visible route to well-paid work straight out of high school. Space Florida President and CEO Rob Long has said the program is meant to break down legacy perceptions of what an aerospace career requires.
BPS says its Career and Technical Education programs are designed to build hands-on skills, produce industry certifications and open direct pathways into Brevard County’s aerospace, engineering and technology workforce. The district lists Space Florida, NASA, Kennedy Space Center and regional aerospace and technology companies as partners in that effort.
Why it matters locally
Brevard’s labor market is unusual in that the employers students would be training for are often within driving distance of the classroom. Launch cadence at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Kennedy Space Center has pushed sustained demand for technicians, avionics workers, machinists and IT staff, and much of that hiring does not require a four-year degree.
The district framed Thursday’s visit as showing students not just what they are learning, but where that learning can take them, while building the next generation of talent for the Space Coast’s aerospace economy.
The Space Coast Rocket will update this story with details from the visit.
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