PANAMA CITY BEACH — Flying drones has been a dream for Oscar Paz for a while now. 

The Bay County sophomore said he's always loved technology and when he learned of the upcoming drone program when he was in middle school, he instantly sought out a counselor to sign up. 

“I got into the program to learn about (drones),” Paz said. “And I heard that I could get my drone piloting license. I got hooked up and pursued this dream of mine to become a drone pilot.” 

J.R. Arnold High School’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems program teaches students about drone technology and prepares them to get FAA certified, giving them more opportunities for future careers.  

Established only two years ago, the program takes three years to complete. Students in their first year earn their UAS Safety One Certification, which leads to getting their FAA 107 pilot license their second year. This upgrades them to a UAS Safety Two Certificate automatically. Then in the third year, students take “Visual Line of Sight” and “Beyond Visual Line of Sight Operations” courses. 

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Unmanned Aircrafts Teacher Mike Cypher said these certifications and courses pad up their resumes and make them more qualified candidates when they are applying for jobs.  

“If you are my students, they're going to have all these certifications leading up,” Cypher said. “And by the end of year three, not only will they have piloted them, they will be proficient in them.” 

Junior Cody Spaulding said he has goals of joining the Navy and becoming a flight ops. When he learned of this program, it was a perfect match for the ROTC student.  

“So, I knew it would be a good opportunity because the job I'm wanting to go into in the military does have some stuff to do about drones,” Spaulding said. “So, that would actually benefit me in the sort of way to where it would get me ahead of a lot of other cadets in the military.” 

Junior Michael Fuzy joined the program when it piqued his curiosity. Now in his second year with the program, he said he sees the future of drone technology and he urges upcoming students to join the program, even if they don’t pursue a career in it. 

“Right out of the gate, I could probably get some pretty good jobs around the area, because this is a touristy area,” Fuzy said. “Having any sort of drone footage, whether it be by the bay, or going down a main stretch of road and then just coming up to wherever you want to be, I mean, I would be the guy for the job opposed to somebody who just bought a drone and would probably get arrested by a cop.” 

Cypher also elaborated on how the program exposes and prepares students for various careers in the technical field. 

“You basically can use them on main aircraft systems. You can use them in applications for construction and logistics. You can use it for surveying,” Cypher said. “You can use it for deliveries, now that's still something that's in the works with a lot of companies around the country. As well as all of your photographic applications.” 

In the program, they use multiple different drones, starting off with the $120 “Tellos,” equipped with an HD camera to give a bird's-eye view of the world. They work their way to $400 “Mavic Minis” that has a 4k camera and can be flown outdoors recreationally without being registered, due to the weight limit. Later in the program, they work with drones worth thousands of dollars and have more advanced features, like GPS and thermal cameras. 

Paz said he did not have experience with flying drones and his first-time flying one was during class. Yet Cypher’s guidance gave him confidence when flying, he said. 

“I was kind of nervous, but at the same time calm, because I didn't want to crash a drone,” Paz said. “I did kind of good. I got to take off, land, take off and land again, and it was a short distance, but it was progress, I got better each time.” 

Freshman Aubrey Roberts had also never flown a drone before signing up for the program, yet she signed up so she could potentially have a job taking drone photos for her father’s construction business. 

She said while it was nerve-wracking at first, she got the hang of flying by her third time. 

“If you have video game knowledge, it's a little bit easier,” Roberts said. “But it's mainly, you just kind of sit there and fidget with it at first, and then you have the little gates that you see, and then you just kind of fly through those.” 

Cypher said he loves watching his students engage in the lessons and seeing their eyes light up in interest. 

“When you can put something tactile in their hands that utilizes that technology for something productive, you see their eyes light up because it's not just experiencing something that they've seen on a screen in social media, they're right here experiencing it in person,” Cypher said. 

Likewise, the students love seeing their instructor have a passion for what he teaches, with Spaulding saying there is no one better to teach this program. 

“I would have to say Mr. Cypher is probably one of the best, if not the best teacher, that is in the school,” Spaulding said. “He goes far and beyond to help his students and to help me, so you get through all the stuff that we need to do and get us prepared for the 107." 

Since the program is still new, Cypher hopes to establish connections within the community and to get his students jobs and internships. 

“I'm always looking for new people that want to reach out and get involved with the program, whether they want to come to talk to us as a speaker or if they want to look at kids as potential interns or job seekers,” Cypher said. “So that's my goal is to see these kids use this thing to be able to actually earn some real-life job skills, so they can get that real-world experience.” 

The moment he receives his FAA certification, Paz said the first thing he is going to do is buy a Maverick Mini, making sure to register it first and fly it around for fun. He said he will definitely celebrate his accomplishment of getting closer to his dream. 

“I will be so proud of myself, my parents will as well,” Paz said. “It would be the happiest time of my life because I would achieve my dream of becoming a drone pilot.”