Hiding in the shadows of roaring engines and gleaming fuselages, senior Kyle Dart has established himself as a top-of-the-nation high school aviation mechanic. Through his passion and hardwork, Dart hopes to one day become a successful mechanic while also playing music.
One of Dart’s signature trades is aviation maintenance. Between June 24 and June 28,
Dart traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to participate in the aviation maintenance technology category at the SkillsUSA national conference where he placed fourth out of 20 competitors. Most recently, Dart won first place at the SkillsUSA California state competition in Ontario, California between April 9 and April 12. This coming June, Dart will once again travel to Atlanta, Georgia to compete with the goal of placing top three in the competition.
During SkillsUSA competitions, aviation mechanic participants are put through an eight hour competition while participating at 12 different stations, all focusing on completing different hands-on abilities such as tube bending, fabrication, safety wiring, electrical boards, and precision measuring.
“He’s got the confidence, he’s got a good, solid background, and in time he’ll be a good technician,” said Greg Boswell, the PRHS auto class teacher.
Dart also takes part of a aviation maintenance program class at Cuesta, which stems from Cuesta’s Aviation Maintenance Technology with the purpose of helping students get their Airframe and Powerplant license. An A&P license is a prerequisite for becoming an aircraft mechanic that authorizes individuals to inspect, maintain, and repair aircraft.
I don’t put as much stock in his quality of work because he’s early in his training and career, but his work ethic and methodology is great, and those go a long way in his field. – Greg Boswell, Auto Class Teacher
One of Dart’s favorite roles at PRHS is his position in the Jazz Club as the guitarist with the ability to also play piano. Dart was inspired to join the band after going to a middle school performance put on by the band when he was younger.
“I remember in middle school I went to a showcase and the jazz band put on a performance. I was like ‘Oh that’s really cool.’ I was learning guitar at the time, so I really wanted to join and play.”
Unfortunately for Dart, when he joined the band his freshman year, they already had a guitarist and were in need of a pianist. This forced Dart to improve his level of piano skills and ultimately be the band’s pianist for three years. Outside of PRHS, Dart is in a jazz combo called Take 3. Dart is the guitarist while junior Maxwell Toohey-Bergvall plays the drums and Tyler Wyatt, a senior from Atascadero High School, plays the saxophone. The combo currently spends most of their time playing at The Backyard on Thirteenth, but Dart has also had the opportunity to play the piano at LIBRETTO, a local jazz club that was named one of the world’s top jazz venues by DownBeat Magazine.
While Dart knows how to play music, he also knows how to teach it.
Starting in February, Dart began giving guitar lessons to Gaylene Ewing’s son, Jupiter. Ewing reached out to Dart after hearing about his desire to teach music. He wants to expand his musical knowledge and improve himself as a musician.
“It’s a great experience, learning how to guide somebody younger than me and be able to articulate myself well and pass on my expertise. Not only does it help me practice, but also helps me gain a deep understanding of music because one of the best ways to learn is to teach someone else.”
This fall, Dart plans on attending Cal Poly SLO and majoring in industrial engineering, minoring in music. Dart originally thought he would major in aerospace engineering, but later realized he preferred physically working and repairing planes rather than doing the math required to build planes.
“I originally thought I wanted to do aerospace engineering, but as I came to realize, aerospace engineering is more math than actually being able to work on airplanes or design them yourself. And I do love math, but that’s just not the direction I want to go.”
Industrial engineering is optimization engineering, meaning engineers take something that is already existing or in development, then find ways to improve the invention to be more efficient or cost effective.
Dart also changed his mind after attending an engineering camp hosted by Cal Poly SLO in the summer of 2024 where he was introduced to Professor Mohamed Awwad, the Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering professor at Cal Poly SLO.
