Announcing PreFlight Camp Success

ANNOUNCING PREFLIGHT CAMP SUCCESS

By PreFlight Aviation Camp

We are happy to announce that PreFlight campers and staff have wrapped up our second successful camp during the last week of June, 2018! It was a fantastic experience for all involved, including the 14 young girls who each took to the skies! PreFlight Aviation Camp is a 501(c)3 non-profit five-day overnight camp for girls ages 11-14 held during the summer at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. In the same way that a pilot must first perform a ‘preflight’ before they can takeoff in their airplane, our camp is a young girl’s ‘preflight’ into aviation. Founded and run by a staff of professional female pilots with extensive experience, PreFlight uses aviation to transform girls’ beliefs about gender roles, build their self-esteem and inspire them to take off into their future. What sets us apart from other aviation camps is our balanced approach to relate each topic back to broader life lessons, creating healthy dialogues used to uplift and challenge each girl to think critically while empowering them through aviation. You don’t have to already have an interest in aviation to attend PreFlight and gain new and enriching experiences! Our hands-on approach to learning explores aviation through Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM). Campers apply their knowledge first-hand and make lifelong memories when they pilot simulators and fly an airplane on a private flight with a female instructor!

We at PreFlight believe that you can’t be what you can’t see. Just telling a young person they can do something isn’t enough to empower them to do it. You have to show them. And when young women can see someone who they can immediately identify with they begin to develop real belief in possibilities. Unless more girls are exposed to aviation in their formative years, it is possible

that we will continue to see the abysmally low number of female pilots decline. This paints a bleak future for women in aviation, and the industry as a whole. We need a deliberate effort to show them that becoming a pilot and working in aviation career fields is attainable. Our work doesn’t stop there though; because of our dedication to quality experience PreFlight includes an optional mentor program for campers and also participates in multiple outreach programs throughout the year. PreFlight Aviation Camp volunteers and board members are advocates for youth in aviation and are joining the momentum to close the aviation gender gap. By taking full advantage of being those role models as well as partnering with other grass roots organizations striving for actionable change, we hope to maximize our potential to impact the next generation.

We are grateful for the many organizations who worked with us to make this camp a reality including Texas State University Air Force ROTC, LeTourneau University, RedBird Flight Simulations, Bell Helicopter, Central Texas Commemorative Air Force, CFAN composite parts production, San Marcos Regional Airport, Easy Tiger Yoga, and multiple private and business donations allowing half of the campers to receive full scholarships in 2018! We are always growing our team and welcome any support you would like to give. Tax-deductible donations are accepted through our website, as well as applications for counselors, mentors and campers for the summer 2019; dates TBD! Please visit www.preflightcamp.com to learn more and find out how you can help young girls take off into their future!