American Airlines awarded McKinney ISD $25,000 for the district's student aviation program on Jan. 19. “The grant that we received from American Airlines is going to be used for flight simulators that will allow our students to get flight training hours without having to pay for flight time in the air,” Todd Young, MISD senior director of college and career readiness and AVID said in the release. “We’re always looking for ways to reduce costs for the kids, so the grant will be great for our program.” MISD's student aviation program partnered with American Airlines in September. The aviation program at MISD launched in 2011 with about 40 students. In 2013, the program had grown to about 200 students, according to the release. The program has a Federal Aviation Administration-approved flight simulator and partnerships with Southwest Airlines, the city of McKinney, LeTourneau University and Monarch Air.