HOUSTON – At Houston’s Lone Star Museum about 100 girls got the experience of a lifetime for Girls in Aviation Day.
It’s an annual event hosted by the Houston chapter of Women in Aviation International, a nonprofit organization that strives to inform young girls about how careers in aviation can be viable options.
“Today is all about visibility,” Jessica Garcia, said.
Jessica Garcia serves as the Co-President of Women in Aviation for the Houston Chapter, and she is setting young women up for success.
“I’m a firm believer in you can’t be what you can’t see and it’s so important for us to introduce young ladies to careers in aviation that they may have never considered as a possibility for them,” Garcia said.
The Girls in Aviation event teaches young girls about building and flying planes along with technology logistics and STEM.
The event also featured several organizations and colleges. The MIAT College of Technology, Southwest and United airlines provided valuable information for girls.
It was a dream come true for Tori Sanders. She drove three hours from Kirbyville, Texas. After seeing a woman fly a plane during her summer vacation, it inspired her to pursue a career in aviation.
“I was like Oh my Gosh mom! Look at her she is a woman; she is flying a plane and I was like maybe I should do that,” she said.
Lauren Moore has a passion for military and mechanics. She learned how planes operate from demonstrations.
“Like how the planes go forward, how you can go back, how does the get up in the air and move forward. It’s a lot that goes into building an airplane,” Lauren Moore said.
Less than 8 percent of all licensed pilots and less than 3 percent of all licensed aircraft mechanics are women.
“Our numbers in aviation are still very low,” Garcia said.
Summer Marshall is an experienced Aviation Maintenance Instructor and says it’s important teach young women how to learn.
“You can build them, you can inspect them, you can fly them, you can teach how to fly them or inspect them so to me that’s very special,” Marshall said.
At Saturday’s event, young woman had the opportunity to experience a DC-3A aircraft.
“It’s really cool that I got to come here and go inside two whole airplanes,” Karley said.
Big or small, the aviation industry is changing and students like Jessica Moore are excited about the future.
“I’m on this road for flight school and air force and it only takes a tiny spark to light a flame,” Jessica Moore said.
WAI is a nonprofit organization relies heavily on donations from the community. To get involved or find out more about the Houston chapter of WAI, visit www.WAIHouston.org.