it is clear that Raddatz does not fear
change or worry about social conven-
tion. She never thought about being the
first female to earn both her A&P and
avionics certification at Fox Valley Tech,
a distinction discovered just before her
graduation. There was “no real differ-
ence in being male or female; you’re just
by Scott M. Spangler
another student with schoolwork and
other things to do.” It seems clear that
what matters to Raddatz is heading di-
rectly to the destination of interest.

Nontraditional Inspiration

The youngest of three born in Des
Moines, Iowa, Raddatz grew up in Clo-
quet, Minnesota, a town of 11,000 just
west of Duluth and says, “I’m a Min-
nesotan through and through. I endure
the tough winters and I embody all what
that is. I’m very proud of that.” Without
apology she describes her life as “non-
traditional…maybe it was inspiration
from my mom,” Jan, who drove semis,
worked as a police dispatcher, and start-
ed her own business, a hair salon. A
self-professed “daddy’s girl,” she spent
a lot of time working on projects with
her dad, Lou, like roofing the garage or
building a dock.
“In the sixth and seventh grade I
played flag football with the guys,” Rad-
datz says, and started playing full con-
tact in the eighth grade. “I was right
tackle [and] held my own on the field.”
Without looking back, she quit foot-
ball in her sophomore year, when three
neighboring schools pooled their student
bodies to start a girl’s hockey team. “I
learned to skate and played right wing,”
she says, her voice bright with the mem-
ory. Raddatz says she rarely thought
about being the only girl playing high
school football, it was just something she
wanted to do, like playing baseball and
softball, singing in the choir and madri-
gals, and being on the student council.
Graduating from Cloquet High School
in 2001, Raddatz had an acceptance let-
ter to play hockey just across the state
line, at the University of Wisconsin-
Superior. With the prospect of little play-
ing time, Raddatz opted for a red shirt in

Fox Valley Techs’ Integrated Curriculum

Fox Valley technical college
launched its aviation pro-
grams in 1991, when it built
the s.J. spanbauer center on
the east side of the Wittman
regional airport in osh-
kosh, Wisconsin. as with flight training, maintenance and avionics
were separate two-year, four-semester programs, says avionics and
a&P instructor gene Zastera. about five years ago FVtc needed to
restructure some of the Part 147 material for the a&P program, so the
four full-time instructors used that opportunity to rearrange the cur-
riculum so all first-year students take classes common to both a&Ps
and avionics techs.
the integrated curriculum gives a&Ps greater understanding and
more hands-on experience in solid-state aviation, and avionics stu-
dents get more hands-on with sheet metal, hardware, and the regu-
lations. starting with block diagrams, all students learn how basic
avionics systems, from VhF nav/coms and transponders to gPs and
tcas to airborne radar and XM satellite weather systems work—and
how pilots use them. In the human factors course Zastera developed
and teaches, students learn the important role they play in aviation
safety by researching an accident caused by some sort of main-
tenance error and presenting a summary to the class. In the same
safety vein, all first-year students learn to start and taxi an aircraft.
In their second year a&P students dig into structural materials and
powerplants; avionics students focus on their component level stud-
ies and develop intelligent diagnostic skills, Zastera says. With the
common first year, students are two-thirds of the way to earning both
their a&P and avionics certificates, and becoming well-rounded—
and marketable—technicians, which is why many students go for
three. For reasons Zastera cannot explain, more a&P grads return for
avionics than vice versa. From the class of 2009, nine of 16 a&Ps re-
turned for the third year. (For more information, visit www.fvtc.edu.)

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