The Wakulla Environmental Institute is helping residents turn drone skills into career opportunities and the program has already produced graduates working in business, telecommunications, and law enforcement.WATCH FULL REPORT BELOW: Wakulla Environmental Institute drone program helps neighbors build careers and give back to the communityWEI has been growing its drone program over the years, helping many residents earn their Part 107 certification. Courses cover Part 107 regulations, media editing, and flight operations.Gerald Tookes, a flight operations instructor with the program, said the courses have evolved based on what students need most."I found out that a lot of them need to learn how to plan missions and how those rules and stuff sort of apply, and that they are really in charge of the drone itself," Tookes said.According to WorldMetrics.org, the U.S. drone industry currently supports 104,000 jobs, including 65,000 direct jobs. WEI developed its program to help prepare Wakulla County residents to enter that growing field.Tookes said having drone skills in a rural county like Wakulla can be especially useful. Applications include development, police work, environmental monitoring, disaster recovery, and future drone delivery services. He noted that a drone operator charging around $70 for a roof inspection and completing 10 in a day could earn roughly $700.Hope Childree, director of WEI, said several program graduates have gone on to start their own successful drone businesses, work for companies like Verizon, and one graduate is now a detective with the sheriff's office.Current student Brian Vagnini enrolled in the courses to expand his filmmaking skill set and land more filming jobs."It will allow me to do some commercial applications as well. I've done a few things both in town and also with another company. Last week, I went over to Destin for a jewelry store thing, and it was a lot of fun," Vagnini said.Vagnini also sees drone skills as a way to give back to the community."Being able to give back to the community and helping to find people that are that have been lost. I read something online several weeks back, about a guy that finds lost pets with a drone, and I thought that's really cool, you know, and it's his way of giving back to the community. So, I think it's very useful, very good use cases," Vagnini said.WEI is developing a two-day search and rescue training course to be offered in the future.Registration for current classes beginning in October is now open. Those with questions about the program are encouraged to reach out to WEI.This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.Want to see more local news? Visit the WTXL ABC 27 Website. Stay in touch with us anywhere, anytime.Like us on FacebookFollow us on Instagram and X. ...read more read less