By Cris Coniglio
Women in Aviation International hosts a Girl’s In Aviation Day each year across the country in coordination with each of their Chapters around the world. This is a day to inspire and educate female students who seek an exciting career in aviation or to plant the seed for those who may not know what they want to do for a career yet. This year the Central Florida Women in Aviation Chapter hosted their Girl’s in Aviation Day during a 2-hour virtual event hosted at Sheltair Aviation Orlando, which was coordinated by Kelsie Rodriguez who is the Manager, Operations for Adacel Sytems.
Members of the Central Florida WAI, took part in inspiring and relaying motivational and educational parts of their different career paths. Laura Spolar, the Chapter President is an Aircraft Maintenance Supervisor for United Airlines. She spoke about the wide-open field of the aircraft maintenance that would welcome female aircraft maintenance technicians. Barbara Kennedy is a Civil & Industrial Engineer & STEM Advocate at NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center. Barbara spoke about her aviation journey and the importance of internships. Judith-Ann Jarrette, Director of General Aviation at the Orlando Executive Airport mentored the attending girls on how to introduce yourself in a professional manner. Judith-Ann spoke about her journey as an Air Traffic Controller to now the Director of General Aviation at Orlando Executive Airport.
1st Lt. Cris Coniglio from Civil Air Patrol’s Lake Composite Squadron FL-021 gave an overview of how being a member of the Civil Air Patrol is a great steppingstone for any type of leadership career, including the Air Force. Then the attending girls were able to hear from First Officer Pam Perdue, Pam is a United Airlines pilot currently flying the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Pam in her pilot’s uniform, encouraged the girls, “There are so many aviation career fields, as well as being a pilot.”
NASA Research Pilot and Retired United States Air Force Pilot, Carrie Worth Zimmerman talked about her time in the Air Force. She also stressed “how important my ground team is” to keep her safe when flying. Zimmerman outlined several key aviation ground positions that girls can train for as well. Barbara Walters-Phillips, the Young Eagles Coordinator and President of the Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 74, presented the benefits of being a part of the EAA with the opportunity to get hands-on flight experience. Suzie Salyer, Properties & Development Coordinator at Sheltair Aviation and the event’s host location, spoke about career opportunities at an FBO/Fixed Based Operation which is a company that is granted the right by an airport to provide aeronautical services such as, aircraft fueling, ground handling, hangar and office leasing, and turn-key design/build of aviation properties.
The last section of the program focused on different scholarship opportunities. As an active aviation college student at Middle Tennessee State University, Ivy Adams’s that shared her scholarship journey. Ivy attended GIAD with the Central Florida Chapter in 2018 & 2019. Jarred Edward-Smith, Scholarship Chair for Organization of Black Aerospace Professional’s (OBAP) shared a powerful message about how many “scholarships are available, and no one applies for them.” Diana Aguilar encouraged the scholarship message as well with a presentation regarding the Sisters of the Skies scholarships that are available.
The Girl’s in Aviation Day is always an impactful and inspirational day filled with heartfelt messages from powerhouse aviation professionals that want to give back to the community. The nationwide event is a huge success in connecting and educating the community with aviation professionals for a future generation of girls in aviation career and leadership roles.
The Central Florida Women in Aviation chapter has meetings on the third Thursday of each month. New members are welcome – for more information regarding meetings, visit https://www.wai-cfl.org
