The Kiwanis Girls with Goals recently attended a Women in Aviation conference at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas.
They heard speakers including pilot Amelia Earhart (not related) who spoke of her dream of following in her idol’s footsteps after reading about her when she was a young girl. She went around the world and took a picture of the place where Amelia should have landed before she disappeared.
They also learned from a panel of women about different careers in aviation such as piloting, aviation maintenance, management, air control, and even tried an airplane stimulator.
They attended a career fair with several universities represented that offer courses in aviation, such as from California, Washington and Baylor University in Texas.
They experienced an airplane scavenger hunt to locate mountains, lakes, etc. from above, the importance of teamwork, how to build an airplane hangar from construction paper and other interesting subjects having to do with airplanes.
They met astronaut Major Ann McClaine, graduate from West Point. She stressed that “It isn’t the dream that counts it’s the doing.” and that you have to “step out of your comfort zone” and “if you want something you have to work for it.”
Being an astronaut was something that she wanted to do and even after two years of learning what is needed to be an astronaut such as fixing a toile and learning how to read Russian, she still attends classes.
They were also able to visit the exhibit hall where the vendors for the Women in Aviation
were available to answer questions. This was an awesome experience for these girls and their sponsors.
For more information on Kiwanis programs, contact Elvia Flores at mneflores@aol.com.
The group meets at Paw Paw’s Restaurant in downtown Garland on the first and second Tuesday of the month.