Keonte Sidbury, a student in Wayne Community College’s Aviation Systems Technology program, is the recipient of a 2025 Academic Excellence Award from the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS).
Sidbury is in the second year of his program and maintains a 4.0 grade point average.
He has earned both General and Airframe Certificates of Completion and has completed the written, oral, and practical exams required to earn the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) mechanic certificate with an airframe rating.
“In the Aviation Systems Technology program, academic success extends beyond reading, studying, and doing well on exams,” said WCC Aviation Systems Technology Instructor Mike Crumpler. “There are many facets that our students have to be well-versed in to become the professionals that the aviation workforce requires. Keonte excels in each of those facets.”
“During his time in our program, Keonte has always shown a strong desire to learn more academically and to master each maintenance task to the best of his ability,” Crumpler said.
A Wilmington native, Sidbury drives more than an hour each way to attend class at WCC daily.
He is a member of WCC’s Upsilon Chi chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa international honor society, works for his family’s home construction business, and volunteers regularly at his church.
The Academic Excellence Award is designed to honor a student at each of the 58 constituent community colleges who have set the highest possible goals and attained the pinnacle of academic success.
It is the highest academic honor the NCCCS bestows on its students.
Sidbury will be presented with a plaque and medallion at WCC’s Student Recognition Ceremony next month.
