New Chapter Position: Youth Program Coordinator

June 2025 – Over the years, EAA chapters have become significantly more involved in youth aviation activities. Beyond the Young Eagles program and its free aircraft flights, chapters have also provided organized activities to help foster kids’ interests in aviation. These include workshops and day camps to teach kids about aviation, career days to show them all the opportunities available in the aviation world, chapter-led aircraft building and restoration projects to allow kids to work on a real airplane, and much more. EAA headquarters has also increased its support for chapter-led youth aviation activities, launching the Young Eagles Workshops and Young Eagles Build and Fly programs, as well as making AeroEducate available for chapters to engage in.

To formally recognize the chapter volunteers who lead these youth aviation activities, EAA has created the Youth Program Coordinator position for EAA chapters. This individual will oversee the chapter’s youth aviation activities outside of Young Eagles flights and the Ray Aviation Scholarship program. They will be responsible for the following programs and activities:

• EAA Young Eagles Workshops
• EAA Young Eagles Build and Fly
• AeroEducate activities at the chapter level
• Miscellaneous chapter youth programs
  • Teen aircraft builds/restorations
  • Aviation career days
  • Chapter-sponsored scholarships (outside of the EAA Ray Aviation Scholarship)
  • And much more!

All EAA chapters, including divisional chapters and squadrons, are eligible to appoint a Youth Program Coordinator. The coordinator shall be appointed by the chapter’s board of directors. They must meet the following requirements:

• Current EAA member
• Current member of their EAA chapter
• Completed the EAA Youth Protection Policy and Background Check

Once selected by the chapter’s board, the chapter’s president must notify the EAA Chapters office by emailing chapters@eaa.org to let us know who their new Youth Program Coordinator will be. Otherwise, your chapter will be able to list its coordinator during the chapter renewal process at the end of the year.

The Youth Program Coordinator is a separate position from the chapter’s Young Eagles Coordinator. Whereas a Young Eagles Coordinator oversees the chapter’s Young Eagles program (including rallies), the Youth Program Coordinator oversees ground-based aviation activities. Likewise, it is a separate position from the chapter’s Scholarship Coordinator, who is responsible for overseeing the chapter’s Ray Aviation Scholarship(s). However, the same individual can serve as both a Youth Program Coordinator and a Young Eagles Coordinator, or as both a Youth Program Coordinator and a Scholarship Coordinator, or — if they can manage it — in all three positions at once!

In the future, Youth Program Coordinators will also be able to create youth aviation events on the new EAAChapters.org website, where the Young Eagles online registration system has been rebuilt. This will allow parents to easily register their kids to participate in activities like Young Eagles Workshops and Young Eagles Build and Fly sessions.

Like other chapter leaders, Youth Program Coordinators will be recognized for their efforts each year with EAA Chapter Service Awards, including a certificate and a pin.

EAA will be hosting a special training session for new Youth Program Coordinators during EAA AirVenture 2025. This workshop will take place on Saturday, July 26, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. to noon at the EAA Education Center, part of the EAA Aviation Museum. Occurring right after the Chapter Leaders Breakfast that morning, this will be the perfect opportunity to wrap up the AirVenture week and to learn more about the Youth Program Coordinator position. Preregister Here >

EAA also recently recorded a webinar introducing the Youth Program Coordinator position. Watch Now >

Does your chapter have a volunteer who actively leads its youth aviation activities? Then consider selecting that special person to be your chapter’s Youth Program Coordinator! Contact the EAA Chapters office to let us know who that person is so we can add them to our chapter records and encourage them to attend the Youth Program Coordinator workshop at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh this year!

If you have any questions about this new chapter position, feel free to contact the EAA Chapters office by phone at 800-564-6322 or by email at chapters@eaa.org.