Wisconsin nonprofit hosts aviation camp for underserved kids

MADISON, Wis.— At Middleton Municipal Airport, youngsters realized the sky’s the restrict in the case of alternatives in aviation.

Greater than a dozen youngsters spent the previous week at Camp Willa, the place they realized the ins and outs of the airline trade.

The free camp hosted by the Willa Brown Aviation Academy uncovered underserved youth within the Madison space to the world of aviation. Campers had been between the ages of 12 and 17.

“I’m simply tremendous excited as a result of as quickly as we present them a bit of bit of data and expertise, they’re simply actually excited they usually already planning. And so we’ve achieved our mission,” mentioned Fareed Guyot, president of Willa Brown Aviation Academy.

The nonprofit was named after aviator and civil rights activist Willa Brown. She was the primary African American lady to have a business and mechanic pilot license in the USA.

Willa Brown was a lifelong advocate for gender and racial equality in aviation. That’s why the nonprofit, made up of airline pilots, opens its doorways for teenagers who could not in any other case get a possibility to study careers in aviation.

Alex Nunley, 17, and his brother Amir Brown, 15, had been two of these youngsters and attended the camp collectively.

“It’s eye-opening. It’s greater than I anticipated,” mentioned Nunley. 

Nunley and Amir Brown mentioned they by no means considered a job in aviation.

“I didn’t think about being a pilot earlier than, however now I do… I do. I used to be actually enjoyable,” Amir Brown mentioned.

The teenagers mentioned it was a particular alternative for them, echoed by their grandmother.

“It means the longer term, what the subsequent era seems to be like in our household, for the youth of colour, “ mentioned Martha Stacker.