Northern California EAA Ray Aviation Scholarship Gathering

By Tenley Ong, EAA 1388744 

The Ray Foundation, founded by James C. Ray, was created to provide young people with the opportunities to develop life skills. They have worked with and supported a variety of organizations and programs, one of them being EAA.

A few years ago, the Ray Foundation and EAA introduced a scholarship program, which would change the lives of youths across the United States and Canada. These people would be granted $10,000 for their flight training expenses, assuming they met all the given requirements.

This program has particularly made a deep impact on two chapters in Northern California, EAA Chapter 52 (EAA52) and EAA Vintage Chapter 25 (VAA25). These two organizations combined have produced more than 10 scholars in the last three years.

Earlier this year, members from Chapter 52 approached Vintage Chapter 25 with a proposal. Having had a few Ray scholars go through their own program, they were searching for a way to establish further connection amongst the youth, providing them with opportunities to connect with others. Their idea? The first-ever Northern California Ray Scholar Gathering. Which, by the way, may actually be the first-ever Ray scholar gathering in the whole country!

These two chapters, while in the Sacramento area, had not worked together much before. But the two of them pulled through and successfully gathered Ray scholars from the whole region to the Yolo County Airport (KDWA) on June 18, 2022.

On this day, the chapters welcomed past, present, and future Ray scholars into the same space; Chapter 52 has their very own hangar, complete with picnic tables, a barbeque, a Rutan Long-EZ, and a refrigerator full of pancake mix.

Some Ray scholars are the only ones in their chapter on the journey for their certificate. The intent of this event was to create a space for youths to engage with each other and allow them to network with others with similar goals. On top of that, it was a fantastic opportunity to learn about other chapters in our region.

Attendees listening intently as Cedric Hughes, Ray Scholar from Chapter 52, gives his presentation on working at EAA Oshkosh AirVenture.

How the Day Went: June 18, 2022

The day started with chapters flying into KDWA, home of EAA52. Airplanes lined up outside its hangar. But, instead of older folks climbing out of them, it was a bunch of kids; past, present, and future Ray scholars.

            After parking the airplanes, they wandered into Chapter 52’s hangar, baffled by so many other people their age in the same space. Everyone found their way to the bagels, sat down, and the chitchatting commenced. Members from EAA52 and VAA25 worked together to finalize setting up the space for presentations.

            And then it began. Gill Wright gave everyone a warm welcome, discussing facilities, the program schedule, and “the village” of aviation. Following him, Owen Hughes, the real “brainchild” behind this event, started it off with a fantastic presentation on the “Ray Scholarship Program at Chapter 52”, and another on “Paying for Flight Training.

            After them, some of the Ray scholars presented. Carson Ballou, from EAA52, gave a very energetic and enthusiastic presentation on “Life at Embry Riddle.” As a student going into his sophomore year and actively working on his instrument rating, he had a lot of first-hand knowledge to share. He was so excited about it that it made some of the slightly older folks in the room start to rethink their college choices.

            Then, Isai Villanueve presented on “Ray Aero/Astro Aspiration of a future Astronaut.” And, Cedric Hughes followed it up with one on “Working at EAA Oshkosh AirVenture.” He inspired the VAA25 Young Eagles (some of whom attended Oshkosh 2022), to investigate working there. Cedric got a free Bose Headset when he worked! Pretty freaking cool!

After that, they took a break for lunch. EAA52 knows what’s up; they have their own BBQ ready to fire up at any given moment. And EAA52’s chapter president, Gill Wright, doesn’t just know how to cook hamburgers; he can cook turkeyburgers and garden burgers too! Thank you from the vegetarians, Gill!!

During lunch, some kids took a break to go flying. Yolo County Airport is in the Sacramento Valley, but just to the west and up in the hills is Lake Berryessa, which is absolutely gorgeous to fly over.

            After lunch, VAA25 presented with some interesting info on how they run their Ray Scholarship program, paired with their Build and Maintain program. Stepping in for Kim Owen, the behind-the-scenes-scholarship-queen, for Vintage Chapter 25, Tenley Ong and Liam Robinson presented on “2 for 1: How Vintage 25 gives 2, $5000 Ray Scholarships.”Then Stan Lawrence, VAA 25’s volunteer CFI, followed it by discussing “Life as a Volunteer CFI.” Afterwards, Steve Lightstone, VMC club leader from VAA25, provided an excellent discussion on “Life as a Pilot from Military to the Airlines.”

Nearing the end, Chapter 1541 from Lincoln, California, presented on their VR flight simulator that their Young Eagles built themselves! And yes, you read that right – it’s a VR (virtual reality) flight simulator, meaning you wear the funny googles and look all over the place like a crazy person while flying. This was their first time transporting it, and somehow it made it in one piece to Yolo! Anyone who got to try the simulator that day was completely in awe — amazing work, Chapter 1541!

Afterwards, we heard from Sergio, from EAA 1476 about their Ray Scholarship program.

Special Highlights

It’s important to note those who made this event happen. First of all, Owen Hughes, who came up with the whole idea in the first place and is the go-to Ray Scholarship guru at Chapter 52. From creating the itinerary to hosting the event itself, he did the majority of the work. He also had the help of Gill Wright, Chapter 52 president, who assisted a great deal with the food and organization. Gill is especially interested in the future of aviation, as well as the “village” that makes the gears in the world of aviation turn.

Next, from Vintage Chapter 25, we have Stan Lawrence, volunteer CFI, to thank; the generosity in his time and resources allows their “2 for 1” scholarship program to be structured as it is. And because of him and all the Young eagles he recruited for the day, there were lots of young people to assist with the heavy lifting (tables, chairs, tents, speakers, etc). In addition, from VAA25, Kim Owen, scholarship coordinator, is to thank – she is the reason why VAA25 is a gold chapter and they acquired Ray scholars in the first place. She makes all the gears turn as she coordinates with the Ray Foundation, EAA, and the Young Eagles (yes, she definitely has to nag the teenagers to submit their dang reports). Which, speaking of the VAA25 scholars, within 2 WEEKS in July 2022, 3 RAY SCHOLARS earned their private pilot certificates … amazing! And there is one from EAA52, training with VAA25, due for August!

On a Final Note…

This event was a huge success, and these chapters look forward to hosting more like it in the future, with the hopes of expanding the invitation to others outside of Northern California.

The value of showing these young people the support that is behind them is immeasurable; There are funds available, there are mentors who you can ask all your questions to, and there are people your age doing the exact same thing. And, you never know who you’ll meet, where one connection can take you. Doors are waiting to be opened, you just have to go knock on them. You will be amazed at how much you will learn from those around you in the village of aviation. And this is only the beginning.


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