SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SOARING ACADEMY INC

Southern California Soaring Academy operates a commercial glider flight school four days per week. Flight training in gliders and earning an FAA certification adds a deeper level of understanding to ones piloting skills. Many of our volunteers were once students. They become volunteers to give back to the communities we serve, after witnessing our in person outreach/events and the impact it makes on peoples lives. Our tow pilot and instructor population (many of whom are volunteers) come from a wide variety of aviation backgrounds including all branches of the military, retired 747 airline captains, NASA, and corporate aviation. In addition to maintaining a fleet of aircraft and overseeing a community of pilot support for our commercial operation, we collaborate with public, charter and home schoolers, festivals, airshows, career day events, and other aviation groups, to introduce junior high school students to aviation, through glider flying. Since one can solo a glider at 14 and become a rated pilot at 16 years of age, we emphasize early training in gliders, but advocate for branching out and adding on to that glider training through other avenues in aviation, once they earn their glider rating. We offer professional development to teachers, bring our glider to school campuses, airshows and career days (some schools come to us), for hands on training on the parts of the glider, where students learn how its design/function interfaces with aerodynamics, weather, sources of lift and more. We train junior high school teachers how to incorporate aerodynamic/aviation concepts into STEM learning for 8th graders. We host field trips at our airport, where teenagers are introduced to and ask questions of pilots from all areas of aviation, they learn career pathways in aviation and get to take an actual intro flight lesson in gliders with our instructors--as a group. Additionally, our Warriors SOAR program is a once a month event that enriches the lives of veterans (mostly dealing with ptsd and other debilitating injuries) during a private day of flying and a BBQ lunch hosted by our USAF neighbors. Veteran participants come to us from VA hospitals and other veteran organizations throughout Southern California with recreation therapists, who are aware of the specific needs of their participants. We tailor the flights to suit the needs of the veteran. Since 2011 we've given more than 1,700 flights to wounded veterans during these private events. Regaining a sense of control, having fun and being around other veterans and civilians during a private but social event, is pivotal for many veterans who need recreational experiences that can replicate high adrenaline functioning, but in a safe manner. Without our commercial operation, the maintainers, instructors, tow pilots and fleet, we would not have the ability to conduct these veteran events nor 8th grade STEM events. We expose large numbers of young people to aviation on a yearly basis because of this core support and existence of our commercial operation. We are capable of conducting regular Warriors SOAR events due to the degree of pilot support and the number of aircraft we maintain, allowing veterans and kids to experience the joy, thrill, magic and freedom of flight with their peers which inspires them to create a better future for themselves and by extension the world around them.