The Washington Soar into STEM program has reached maximum capacity, with a waiting list, after less than a week of registration beginning.
Soar into STEM is a program specifically for high school students provided by Wings of Hope, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping communities in need across the globe.
While Wings of Hope currently hosts a Soar into STEM program at the Spirit of St. Louis Airport, the local program will be the first of its kind in Washington.
Bringing the program to the Washington Regional Airport was the brainchild of Washington School District Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Kephart, who heard about Wings of Hope from a colleague.
Since Dr. Kephart’s family is very aviation-oriented, as her husband Pete Kephart is a pilot and her son is training in the Air Force Academy, Kephart sought out others to help her bring the Soar into STEM program to Washington.
Over the past nine months, a committee of mentors, instructors and other community members have been working together to build a curriculum based on Wings of Hope’s plan.
“The engagement that they are creating around aviation is nothing short of incredible,” Dr. Kephart said. “They blow me away every time I get a chance to hear what they have planned for our students.”
Since he has an extensive background in aviation, Pete Kephart volunteered to be a mentor for the students. Pete Kephart recently retired from the Army National Guard as a lieutenant colonel Black Hawk helicopter pilot and now flies business jets for Jet Linx Aviation. Pete Kephart said there is no shortage of career opportunities in the aviation field, and Soar into STEM can showcase that fact.
“I think it’s a great springboard for these students to have that exposure and decide if that’s what they want to do,” Pete Kephart said.
“One of my greatest pleasures in that career path, in the Army, as an aviator, was to mentor young soldiers,” he said, “and to do the exact same thing we’re doing here and show them what the opportunities are and facilitate their success.”
Mayor Doug Hagedorn, who was a flight instructor at the Air Force Academy and a pilot for Delta Airlines for 35 years, will also mentor students in the program.
“This is really special,” Hagedorn said. “We want to make sure we do it right, and we may even expand the program next year.”
Hagedorn said this type of program is important because it allows students to see what their future could be if they take STEM courses.
“We need more of our citizens in Washington, even in the United States, to be more involved in STEM and learn about it from a very early age, the earlier the better,” he said.
Soar into STEM is a free, five-session program that will feature speakers, mentors, classroom instruction and hands-on learning. During the first session, students will learn the basic parts of a plane and how planes are able to fly. By the end of the fifth session, participants will be able to go up in a plane with the Experimental Aircraft Association’s Young Eagles program and fly for a short period of time.
Kephart said this program will allow students to experience the different career paths available in Washington.
“Aviation is a field that our students can be very successful in, and yet may not have opportunities to know much about the aviation field in the current coursework that we have,” Kephart said. “So now we are able to provide our students with that opportunity through Soar into STEM so that they can experience that passion and life-after-high-school opportunity.”
