AOPA awards more than $1 million in scholarships

Scholarships funded by the Ray Foundation went to 80 high school students and 20 high school aviation teachers, who will each receive $10,000 for training toward the private pilot certificate. Generous donations to the AOPA Foundation from the pilot community funded an additional 17 primary flight training scholarships and seven advanced rating scholarships of varying amounts.

“These scholarships are all about helping people reach their dreams,” said AOPA Foundation Executive Director Melissa Rudinger. “The aviation community knows the immense value of learning to fly and has generously helped fund scholarships for 124 students, teachers, and pilots to help them experience the same sense of joy and accomplishment.”

The scholarships, which are available exclusively to AOPA members, are part of the AOPA You Can Fly program, a collection of initiatives to build a larger, more vibrant pilot community.

High school students and teachers can use the funds for the private, sport, or recreational pilot certificate, and recipients must either solo or earn their certificate within one year of getting the scholarship.

The primary flight training scholarships were open to members at least 16 years of age and range from $2,500 to $7,500 for training toward the private, sport, or recreational pilot certificate. Advanced rating scholarships range from $3,000 to $10,000 and can be applied toward the instrument rating, commercial pilot certificate, certificated flight instructor and instrument instructor certificates, and multiengine instructor certificate.

“We not only want to help people get started with their primary training but also continue their training for more advanced certificates and ratings to promote safety and careers in aviation,” Rudinger said.

“Congratulations to all of our deserving scholarship winners!”

AOPA High School Scholarship winners

Aiden McDonnell	Alexander Roller	Alexander Scardigno	Anastasia Rogachevsky	Annika Petras
Austin Lane	Autumn Rhodes	Autumn Smith	Bailey Wells	Benjamin Epperly
Brandon Cianfaglione	Brandon Vance	Bronson Housmans	Bryan Erdy	Cameron Gibson
Caroline Davis	Carter Long	Charles Stembler	Chattada Viriyaphap	Christine Curry
Colton Woodruff	Connor Shapiro	Dev Patel

 

Dillon Muth	Dylan Kooima	Dylan Park	Elizabeth Witte	Emma Lobash
Ethan Everhart	Ethan Peterson	Evan Iverson	Grace Eger	Grace Kahon
Graham Shunk	Guillermo Espanola Jr.	Isaiah Gershon	Jackson Allen	Jacob Fordyce
James Adkins	James Leonard	John Hoecher	Joshua Brown	Kareena Sandhu
Katelyn Villa	Katelyn Watson	Kevin Sanders	Kyler Brazukas	Landon Arnett
Levi Hipple	Madeline Barnes	Mark Sedlak

Maxwell Coletta	Mehul Dhillon	Michael Hammer	Michael Kemper	Nathanael Cartwright
Nicholas Savage	Noah McFarlane	Owen Colombo	Rachel Rosenzweig	Riley Marsh
Rockwell Tobler	Roman Thomas	Rory Schultz	Ryan Plaskoff

Ryan Wozniak	Sage Nelson	Sam Schaeffer	Samuel Maxwell	Samuel Savitt
Selma Mujezinovic	Seth Baham	Taryn Olson	Tristan Dawson	Tyler Highfield
Umar Badami	Weston Barringer	Zachary Buddelmeyer	Zachary Brown	Zachary Stevenson

AOPA Teacher scholarship winners

Aaron Cook	Daniel Lewandowski	Donald Williams	Derek Rowe	Brandon Blair
Armin Jahr	Erik Haggard	Kerry Breinlinger	Michael Barker	Eric Filardi
Danny Acord	Joseph Konopinski	Kevin Conant	Kristopher McNeil	Shannon Murphy
Stephen Rogers	Jerome Frederick Jr.	Eugene Poole	Philip Vanover	Todd Remenaric

AOPA Primary Flight Training Scholarship winners

Katherine Reynosa	Daniel Jordan	Kaitlyn Doherty	Matias Martinez-Ekkel	Chloe' Litteral
Michael Pacaha	Alex Lahasky	Shane Miller	Grant Beaty	Madison Seymour
Laura Burckhardt	Sebastian Conklin	Jeremy Thomerson	Derrill Gifford	Rachel Meitler
Brendan Russell	Mason Nunamaker

AOPA Advanced Rating Scholarship winners

Mary Ross	Carolyn Hunker	Russell Newman	Jason Coombs
Ethan Beswick	Stephanie Baynes	William Barker

The You Can Fly program, including various scholarship programs, and the Air Safety Institute, are funded by charitable donations to the AOPA Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization. To be a part of the solution, visit www.aopafoundation.org/donate.