Cloud Collective Media Productions (CCMP) plans to use the space to continue their Flight Club Academy and grow class offerings and workforce development opportunities for youth and adults in Homewood and beyond.
For the past year, Cloud Collective Media Productions (CCMP) has collaborated with several organizations within the greater Homewood Community to teach both youth and adults about drone usage through their unique mobile Flight Club program. And now, they have landed a physical space to serve as their headquarters, right in the heart of Homewood.
Flight Club is a recreational drone academy based in STEAM education and designed to educate and inspire BIPOC participants, and all participants alike. Its goals include providing students with an opportunity to learn about Drones (UAS), become TRUST Certified, and explore the world of visual art through film and flight. Students get a crash course in flight safety and best practices for recreational flyers, time to develop skills on Flight Simulators (Automated and Manual), and hands-on experience flying real drones with safe practice flights.
“We are proud to share that we have worked with and graduated over 40 students from our program within the last year,” said co-owners of CCMP Roderick Ramsey CO-CEO and Director of Programming and Robert Travis CO-CEO and Director of Production.
Much of that impact has taken place at the Homewood-Brushton YMCA, in their Youth Learning Center focused on digital skills building, which was built out in 2023 as a result of a partnership between Verizon and Neighborhood Allies.
“We are thrilled at the ways in which CCMP has been able to team up with the Homewood-Brushton YMCA and utilize the new Learning Center to bring such unique learning opportunities to youth and adult students that are part of that community,” said Karen Lue, Senior Program Manager for Digital Inclusion and Innovation. “Flight Academy is such a great addition to the amazing offerings that the YMCA already has through their STEAM program, headed up by Zena Ruiz. To now have that all under one roof is really exciting.”
On Friday, October 4th, CCMP held an open house for community members and other stakeholders in their new space! There were flight simulators, drone models, and sign-ups for the youth and adult community flight classes.
CCMP also has plans to expand their programming to offer workforce development to participants. As Part 107 Commercially Certified Pilots with industry experience, Roderick and Robert maintain an active commercial pipeline of construction and real estate projects which typically include roof and window inspections, construction site documentation, and developing property marketing assets. Once participants are proficient at automated drone aviation, they can be placed on job sites with CCMP and others as paid interns tasked to observe and absorb best practices when it comes to operating a drone on a job site.
“As this dynamic expands, we are set to launch a Part 107 Commercial Course which will offer guidance and preparation toward obtaining a commercial certification which is required for an individual to be paid to fly,” said Roderick. “As our students progress from discovery to recreational certification, skill development through applied learning, and finally to commercial certification, they will be properly positioned to enter the commercial aviation and drone sector.”
If you want to support their work engaging community members in STEAM-based learning, consider donating here. Funds raised will support 12 participants per month for 1 year!