EAA Education Programs Open Doors to Aviation Careers

BY PAUL MALOY EAA DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION

CELEBRATING ITS 40TH anniversary this year, Air Academy program manager Scott Cameron said, “It’s a privilege and an honor to have youth from all over the country come here to Oshkosh each summer to participate in one of the best youth aviation summer camps available. We have hundreds of former campers now working throughout the aviation industry in exciting and rewarding ways.”

As EAA concludes the 30th anniversary of Young Eagles flights, Program Manager David Leiting notes that EAA chapters have flown nearly 2.5 million youths since its launch in 1992, with thousands of current aviation professionals giving credit to a Young Eagles flight for setting them on their career path.

Today, in response to the current critical and growing talent shortages throughout the world in the aviation and aerospace industries, EAA continues to work to help encourage young people to get involved. Working with many aviation and aerospace organizations, EAA’s education team works diligently to develop relationships and opportunities for youths to engage in fun activities that open new possibilities for learning skills and creating paths into exciting future careers.

EAA’s new Youth Education Center, which opened last year, is bringing better-than-ever hands-on activities and events for regional schools and youth groups to experience.

“We offer a wide variety of fun and thought-provoking programming in our Youth Education Center, designed to give kids of all ages a look into aviation and the truly thrilling possibilities for their futures,” said Alyssa Horpedahl, program manager for the YEC.

Learn more at EAA.org/Youth and EAA.org/Education.

The EAA education department wishes to acknowledge and thank key relationships, including Airbus, AMA, AOPA, Estes Rockets, the FAA, Flite Test, Gulfstream, HondaJet, Horizon Hobbies, NASA, NEXTGEN Aviators, NOAA, Siemens AG, United Airlines, and the U.S. Air Force, for their support of EAA educational programming.