Sky's the limit for Jaxton Howard

“In general, kids don’t come here for no reason, so most students want to embody the energy of being an entrepreneur.”

Jaxton Howard never minded having his head in the clouds.

For one thing, aviation is his passion. He also enjoys dreaming up big ideas that can change the world as part of the Entrepreneurship Program.

“It taught me how to think like an entrepreneur,” Howard said. “It equipped me with a lot of those life skills and showed me how I can implement innovation into almost anything I am doing.”

Howard is one of four students who will complete the Entrepreneurship Program this spring, having attended all three years. He used his time to develop a company, Howard Protective Solutions, which is looking at a unique problem faced by pilots and flight crew.

High up in the sky, humans lose protection from the sun’s radiation. For even frequent flyer passengers, it’s not enough to cause issues.

But for pilots and flight crews who have multiple flights a day, it can be harmful to pregnancies. Howard said there is a higher rate of birth defects and complications for pilots and flight crew than there is among the general population.

So, Howard is currently working toward protective equipment or clothing that can be comfortably worn to prevent this. He is still in the research and development stage.

He will also be well-placed to grow his business. After graduating, Howard plans on attending Thrust Flight Academy, an accelerated flight school in Addison, Texas. He plans on becoming a commercial pilot.

The Entrepreneurship Program gave him more than a business idea. Developing business ideas in class gave him both confidence and communication skills.

“I really enjoyed working in teams,” Howard said. “In general, kids don’t come here for no reason, so most students want to embody the energy of being an entrepreneur.”

The process of building a business involves a lot of communication and seeing things from different perspectives. This reinforced the learning process for Howard, who graduated from the program knowing the career path he wanted to pursue.

“You start to empathize with the people who have that problem you want to solve,” he said. “I’m not nervous about public speaking, but I had to focus on going to talk to people about my ideas. You can’t just assume what people know. You have to go and ask them about it.”