Flying (Literally) Toward Positive Choices

By Megan S. Willman

Laura Benson Jones is committed to raising kids to a higher level, together with she takes that goal literally. Dismayed yesteryear the ascension break of immature people impacted yesteryear drug together with alcohol role inwards our society, Laura decided to practice what she could to attention youth inwards our community brand positive life choices.

Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 professional person airplane pilot together with flying instructor, Laura hopes that inwards sharing her dear of aviation she tin sack non entirely develop immature pilots but tin sack also overstep along skills that volition attention teenagers brand decisions that boot the bucket along them condom together with healthy. “I believe nosotros all get got to practice what nosotros tin sack to destination this epidemic of opiate use. We tin sack role what nosotros know best. For me, the tool is an airplane,” Laura says.



In Oct 2015, Laura presented the reckon of a kid’s flying social club to pilots John Casper, Jeff Daus, together with other members of the Vintage Warbirds at Bowman Field inwards Louisville. Using an plane equally its model, Laura explains the “3 Wheels” of her philosophy for the club:

• Leadership: “We operate to get upwards up the adjacent generation yesteryear teaching a proficient operate ethic together with establishing a strong, built-in moral compass.”
• Integrate STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, together with Mathematics) into the existent world: “When flying, a airplane pilot must brand split-second decisions together with know that the math behind those decisions is sound.”
• Drug abatement: “Pilots prepare together with thence that their reflex reaction is the i for which they get got trained. I compare this to the 2d when a teenager volition hold out faced amongst trying drugs or alcohol. They postulate to gear upwards inwards advance for the conclusion they volition make.”

(L) Laura Benson Jones amongst Jeff Daus, Sara Ensor (standing) together with Iman Ghali. Photos yesteryear Trina Whalin  

“Flight Club 502” began amongst viii girls, together with today its membership includes lx students aged 12 to 20. Laura together with the other adults are mentors, but the kids run all aspects of the club, including pedagogy together with social club finances. “We get got life-long members of the aviation profession who are dedicated to the goal of lifting boys together with girls up,” Laura says. “We emphasize peer-to-peer pedagogy together with leadership, helping individuals uncovering their personal ability inside the group.”

"Flight Club 502" teaches kids almost the value of personal responsibleness patch engaging inwards a fun
activity that volition heighten their creativity. 

Two teens who get got found a habitation inwards aviation are Flight Club president Iman Ghali (a senior at Sacred Heart Academy) together with vice-president Sara Ensor (a junior at Kentucky Country Day School). Laura, Iman, together with Sara highlighted the ways inwards which the tenets of Flight Club 502 get got helped empower immature people inwards our community.

1. Students becoming teachers. After Laura taught Sara together with Iman “ground school” (instruction inwards all aspects of flying without taking to the air), the girls became instructors for all subsequent students.
2. Paying their ain way. Flying is an expensive hobby, together with the grouping did non desire to exclude anyone based on economical status. “We aren’t interested inwards who their parents are,” Laura says. “The kids operate to get upwards coin for all they do. They launder planes, learn class, operate at camp. We desire them to engage inwards social entrepreneurship to attention pay for their lessons.”
3. Sparking creativity. Flight Club 502 offers after-school classes together with summertime camps, together with the social club members cook the curriculum for those experiences. In improver to solid soil schoolhouse instruction, activities include visits to Louisville International Airport (which included a tour of the burn downwards together with rescue vehicles), exploration of UPS cargo planes, together with the endangerment to fly.
4. Taking ownership. The flying social club was given 2 rooms on the 2d flooring of the hangar, together with they speedily went to operate personalizing the coming together together with classroom space. As a group, the teens painted, brought inwards slice of furniture together with a refrigerator, together with fifty-fifty get got a ping-pong table. “It makes me together with thence happy to come upwards here. I dear the opportunities to run across together with thence many people together with to larn all of the dissimilar things I tin sack practice inwards aviation,” Sara says.
5. Buying their ain plane. The adult mentors for the social club volunteer their time, but renting planes was a fiscal burden for the kids. They solved this occupation yesteryear asset a raffle. Club members sold $100 tickets, amongst a prize of a private flying to the destination of the winner’s pick inside a 500-mile radius of Louisville. The kids sold 550 tickets together with purchased a 1970 Cessna 150 K plane amongst the $55,000 they raised. Iman proudly says, “It’s non only our leadership that is doing the operate for the club. Every fellow member sold tickets for the raffle. The plane actually belongs to all of us.”

Flight Club 502 is eager to part its dear of flying. Interested persons tin sack e-mail flightclub502@gmail.com.


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