It's still summer break for a bit longer, but class was back in session for one group of Bridgeport students recently. They met up for the culmination of a years-long project that began inside Bassick High School's autoshop garage.

News 12 first stopped by the class in the spring where the buzz was evident—and not just from the tools.

"This is the only class I would not miss," stated Tiany Perez.

About a dozen students were hard at work that day - but not on cars. They were focused on a different set of wheels, one that also has wings. The class was carefully assembling an FAA-certified, two-seat, single-engine aircraft. It's a program through the nonprofit Tango Flight, which is based in Texas and operates in a few dozen schools across the country. In 2020, it touched down at Bassick, the only school in Connecticut.

"This was the first one we decided to do in an inner-city program. That's why we really supported getting the program started here," explained Aaron Hollander, CEO of First Aviation Services and a Tango Flight board member. "This is a program where you learn by doing."

Tango Flight provides all the materials, tools and instructions to build the plane.

"I think it's fascinating, like whoa," said Brenda Ranzha, a senior at the time. "I'm a very visual learner, so, you know, being able to work hands-on on this airplane—that, to me, is the best part."

But there's another aspect that really makes the program soar.

"The critical success factor is having dedicated mentors, and we've been extremely fortunate," Hollander told News 12. "We have a Delta pilot who comes in when he's not flying. We have people who built their own planes. We have people who were engineers at Sikorsky."

David Paqua has been a mentor for the past two years and called the experience "very rewarding."

"My background's all been in building construction, but I am an FAA mechanic, and I restored antique airplanes and built a couple aircraft," said Paqua.

The plane comes as a kit.

"First you start with a set of drawings, and you identify the parts that are required to build that particular component of the aircraft, and then we have to dig through, find the parts. We rivet it together. And you start with very small components, and eventually they become the whole airplane," Paqua explained.

Along the way, the mentors are also building relationships.

"That's another thing that makes me happy about it—I have them," said Tiany Perez as she got emotional. "If it wasn't for them pushing me and the appreciation that they bring to the table, like, I never had that. Yeah, I have my mom, but it's not the same when other people see the light in you."

Perez graduated from Bassick in 2023 and currently works at an airport. But on her days off, she returns to the place where she found her passion.

"This is my world. This is everything. I wake up to, and I think about aircrafts," Perez said after wiping tears from her eyes. "Coming here, seeing this, it brightens up my day every single day. I want to grow old building planes. That's the dream."

The program can offer a flight plan forward, especially with Connecticut's growing aviation industry.

"For me, personally, I struggled finding something that I could do after school, and I think this is one of those career paths that I could look forward to in the future," stated Rahnza.

But the goal of Tango Flight goes beyond that.

"I think it can spark interest in other areas," Paqua said. "They don't have to be aircraft mechanics. They don't have to be pilots, but they may see they have some mechanical ability."

"Regardless of what path they take, the idea is to open up their vision to look beyond the neighborhood to see there are great opportunities that pay really well," Hollander explained. "That's really the exposure we're trying to give them."

It's even extra exposure for students like Rahnza.

"I, for example, have actually never flown in an airplane," Rahnza told News 12.

That's what makes this class even more hands on. After the school year, the kids get to see their work in action and not just from the ground. They fly in the plane they helped build.

Last month, they met up at Three Wing Aviation at Sikorsky Memorial Airport. Students were joined by family, friends, their aviation mentors and members of Bridgeport Public Schools.

"I'm so excited, so excited!" said Perez as she strapped in beside Hollander, who piloted the plane, taking students up one at a time.

Flight day marked the culmination of three years of work, the end of a journey.

"When he first took off, I screamed, I was like 'Wooooo!' because I actually did this! This is my baby!" said Perez, who couldn't stop smiling after her trip in the air.

For Rahnza, it was the start of something new.

"I'm taking a bit of a risk here," she said as she climbed into the plane.

But no matter what's on the horizon, they won't forget the program's biggest lesson—to set their sights high.

"That experience was one of the most thrilling I've had in my life," Rahnza told News 12 after she landed. "When I was up there, it felt really calm. It was just exciting seeing everything down below."

"I want to go as far as I can. As far as I can I want to take it," added Perez.

The Tango Flight program at Bassick will continue work on a second plane when the new school year resumes.

To learn more about Tango Flight, click here.