As her own career starts to take off, Celia de Diego '25 is already helping shape the future of aviation in the Danville region. The 2025 Averett University graduate now serves as the aviation coordinator with the Danville Public Schools, where she is introducing middle and high school students to cutting-edge aviation technology and career possibilities that some never imagined.

A native of Valladolid, Spain, her passion for a career in aviation brought de Diego to Danville in 2021 to attend Averett and play women’s soccer. A standout both on and off the pitch, she earned numerous honors from state, regional and national organizations. Averett's all-time leading goal-scorer was also highly-recognized by the university for on-field prowess and off-the-field endeavors. She even joined the women’s lacrosse team in the spring of 2025. She graduated Magna Cum Laude in May 2025 with a double major in aeronautics and criminal justice, with a minor in psychology, while being a member of the honors program.

As a licensed pilot from her time in the Averett aeronautics program, de Diego learned about the new aviation program in DPS from a friend in the community and applied for the newly-established position. Now as aviation coordinator with the local school system, she’s sharing her passion for aeronautics with middle and high school students gain experience that could help them soar into a well-paid role in the field of aviation.

She spends her day between George Washington High School and the new Innovate Academy located nearby on Langston’s campus. At GW, she teaches two classes and three classes of middle school students who rotate from Bonner and Westwood. She works hard to make the courses as hands-on as possible.

“It’s a work in progress, building the program,” de Diego said. “Right now, it’s more about building interest, so then in a couple years, we want to get to that point that we can filter the students in the right direction.”

The two sets of students focus on different forms of the aviation field. The middle school students devote their time to the use of drones, a rapidly-growing area. The high school students also work with drones, but have access to the new aviation lab at GW that includes many flight simulators.

“We’ve actually built our own drones, and then we’re flying the little ones,” de Diego said. “So, we have these that are indoor safe. Flying drones, that’s sort of a rapidly growing profession. There’s many different applications that they can use it for, and it’s still evolving.”

Recently, de Diego took part in the City of Danville’s Free Fly Day at the Danville Regional Airport. The annual event allows local youths to experience multiple areas of the aviation field. As part of this partnership that includes Averett and other aviation stakeholders in the area, the young attendees were able to take flights piloted by Averett flight instructors on Averett-owned planes. Meanwhile, de Diego had her drones set-up in a hangar to show what her program has to offer.

The new aviation program offered by Danville Public Schools is helping students learn about and move forward into a field that offers expanding opportunities. This new area provides a pipeline to feed interested students into the not only the Averett Aeronautics program, but into the new aviation maintenance program at Danville Community College. The synergy of all these areas hopes to help fill a need in the aviation profession.

“There is a job shortage in aviation and being able to introduce all of these career opportunities to the young people in our region is extremely important so that they are aware of all that the aviation industry has to offer,” said Travis Williams, chief flight instructor at Averett University. “Once they become aware of these opportunities, then they have the chance to either come to Averett and pursue pilot training or management or to go into maintenance with DCC.”

Through grants and other forms of funding, the infrastructure at the Danville Regional Airport is seeing a drastic improvement. All entities will benefit from the more than $6.7 million investment. Another interesting aspect of the partnerships growing at the airport are the opportunities available through Averett Aviation, the fixed base operator that is owned and operated by Averett University. This business services all the private aircraft that use Danville Regional Airport.

Having excelled in Averett’s aviation program before taking on this new role, de Diego’s presence in this wide-ranging group of partnerships gives her a unique perspective on how everything works together. In this time when the development of a skilled workforce is so important, the career paths offered through the program should make a tremendous impact of the profession — not just for pilots, but also for maintenance, operations and other key roles in the business.

“Celia brings enthusiasm and knowledge of aviation, which I think is vital when introducing young people to this industry that is so dear to many of us,” Williams added.

Even in just the first semester, de Diego has started to see students relishing the time spent in her lab. Some don’t want to leave when the bell rings to change classes.

“Some of them ask me, ‘Hey, can I tell my teacher that I’m staying here?’  I’m like, ‘Well, no. Go to your class. You’ve got to go to your English class. You’ve got to finish your degree requirements here.’”

Eventually, the students will make field trips to the airport to gain a more hands-on experience. But in the meantime, there is plenty to do and plenty to teach. She has plenty of ideas that will improve the program and advance the students’ understanding of the field.

“I’m working on getting them to get the drone license,” de Diego said. “That’s more feasible to begin with.”

Since arriving in Danville, de Diego sees this community as a special place. She still sees many of her friends from Averett and takes any opportunity to go back and catch a soccer game. She still plays the sport that helped bring her here and joined a 7v7 league in the summer.

“I really like the community,” she said. “People are super nice to me everywhere I go. That’s probably why I’m still here, just for the people that build the city. I like that there’s no traffic. I like the people. I like living close to all my friends, that’s awesome. I like the people at work.”

She’s even found connections through sharing parts of her culture from Spain with other cultures represented in the community, which wasn’t new giving the diverse international student population on Averett’s campus.

As she pays her joy for aviation forward, de Diego is a great example of the students Averett attracts and the type of person the school produces. Bright, hard-working and inquisitive, she also looks to make her community better. Her position with the school system is so very important in today’s world of education. Plus, she sees the opportunity to make learning fun — especially in a booming career of aviation, which she holds dear in her heart.

View story at averett.edu,