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Experimental Aircraft Association chapters now have an additional “next step” activity following Young Eagles flights, as EAA is introducing a Young Eagles Workshops program available to all chapters as a follow-on way to engage young people.
The Young Eagles Workshops program offers youth, generally 11 to 17 years old, the opportunity to discover more about aviation in a social setting at a local airport. These sessions, either single-day or multiple-day, are geared toward introducing kids to the basic elements of airplanes and aviation.
“EAA continues to build its offerings for young people as ways to introduce and engage them in aviation, as there are so many possibilities for discovery and achievement through the world of flight,” said Rick Larsen, EAA’s vice-president of communities and member programming, which includes the organization’s youth initiatives. “Our chapters have been asking for additional resources to build on the Young Eagles flight experience, which has already connected with more than 2.2 million young people over the past 28 years.”
The Young Eagles Workshops will provide chapters with content, materials, and guidance for conducting the local workshops. Through various classroom and hands-on activities, the workshops focus on specialized aviation content that provide opportunities for youth to embrace aviation as a potential recreation or career path in their futures. Chapter members will serve as instructors and mentors for the young people involved as they discover the various elements of aviation.
“There are opportunities here to reach young people who typically don’t have the connections to the local airport or aviation, and help them discover a world of possibilities,” Larsen said. “Thanks to the Sporty’s Foundation, Young Eagles Workshops bring together many ideas our chapters have developed through the years and present them in an organized, standard manner to benefit youth.”
Sporty’s has long supported EAA aviation education initiatives, highlighted by its offer of the Sporty’s Learn to Fly course at no charge to all participants in the EAA Young Eagles program. More than 75,000 young people have taken the next step in their aviation journeys by enrolling in the online course following their EAA Young Eagles flights.
