AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2014 - 63

SISTERS KAYLA AND RACHEL TURNER both

participated in Eagle Flight during high
school (left). When their father first took
them and they participated in the drills,
the pair asked their father if they were
being punished for something. Both later
embraced the program and are among the
many successful alumni who return for
visits. In college at Montclair State University, Kayla is a junior majoring in biology
and Rachel is a senior majoring in psychology. Both have their pilot certificates.
Mike Chisolm is the Eagle Flight Squadron
director-and former student (below left).

"Kid's sitting back and says, 'If I can fly an airplane, I can do
anything.' All this from a program this crazy pastor started
39 years ago to teach kids to fly."
Flight consistently generates enough
community support to stick around without White. "Reverend White was an
innovator," he says, "teaching kids from
urban areas to give them something to do,
something that gives kids from urban areas
an exposure they normally don't get-a
sense of confidence by using aviation.
"I'm biased, but I think I have a great
thing here," Chisolm says. "I want to work
at the model and think how we can expose
other kids to the opportunity. On a consistent basis we have 20 kids. I'd like to see
that number grow. And have the program
expand regionally and nationally."
The program is funded through grants
from local organizations and private donations, and annual fundraisers. The kids do
pay tuition-$700 per year. Students complete an application, write a short essay on
why they are interested in the program,
and have a personal interview. To stay in
the program they must maintain a B average or better in their regular schoolwork
(Rev. White is often quoted: "Get a C? See
ya.") They also need to attend the Eagle
Flight classes regularly and maintain a high
level of participation.
THE FUTURE. "We are trying to create and
maintain as many meaningful partnerships
as possible," Chisolm says. "Exposure to all
aspects of aviation is so important, so any
opportunity that we have to visit an organization or business or have internship
opportunities available is really key. As we
look to expand, we are going to need access
to more resources as well as instructors,
volunteers, and funding."

White still has some ideas for Eagle
Flight. Maybe expand the model to some
other fields like commercial boating. But
no matter, he's still proud of what he's been
able to accomplish. "I don't care where
the kid comes from, if he's interested in
coming to Eagle Flight, we can teach him
how to fly," he says. "Not only do we teach
them how to fly, but we deal with character building and how to learn."
Chisolm says they are currently developing a curriculum that supplements the
flight training with the principles of engineering and computer science. "So many
people talk about STEM education; when
you think about it, we've been giving students hands-on STEM training in real
airplanes for 39 years," he says.
"We are looking at summer 2015 to
begin our six- to eight-week-long aviation, engineering, and technology camp
for high school students. This is an ambitious goal-but so was the idea of starting a
flight school in the middle of East Orange,
New Jersey, in 1975!
"One thing Rev. White says is that in 39
years, we haven't used a Band-Aid yet. We
definitely want to keep that up," Chisolm
adds. "You ask the kids and they tell you all
the time it's really interesting. They walk
around high school and not a lot of other
kids can fly an airplane," he says. "Kid's sitting back and says, If I can fly an airplane,
I can do anything. All this from a program
that this crazy pastor started 39 years ago
to teach kids to fly."
AOPA
PHIL SCOTT is a freelance writer and private

pilot who lives in New York City.
www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 63

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2014

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