Youth aviation education in the Oshkosh area and beyond is receiving a major boost, as the Adam R. Scripps Foundation (ARSF) has approved a grant to the EAA Aviation Foundation in support of the EAA Education Center and EAA’s online AeroEducate program.
The three-year grant totaling $1.5 million is focused on activities at the Education Center, which opened in July 2022 and serves both youth discovery of aviation and proficiency for current pilots. The grant also will support EAA’s AeroEducate program, which is a free online resource with age-based activities and clear pathways to aviation and aerospace careers where K-12 students can discover and ignite their curiosity about flight.
“The Adam R. Scripps Foundation reviewed the work that EAA was doing at the Education Center, especially with young people on-site and through AeroEducate, and was motivated to support these expanding efforts,” said Margaret Brill, director of the EAA Aviation Foundation. “We are grateful for this major grant, as it comes at a time when tremendous opportunities exist to reach young people with the possibilities within aviation for achievement in STEM education and in possible future careers.”
The grant also helps complete the “Project 21” effort that led to the construction and opening of the EAA Education Center, which has already welcomed thousands of young people for aviation discovery in the past year. The exterior courtyard at the Education Center will be named the Adam R. Scripps Courtyard in honor of the foundation’s namesake and his enthusiasm for the world of flight during his life.
“Adam Scripps had many hobbies and interests, but few energized him like his love of aviation, education, and helping young people reach their potential, so it was fitting that his foundation’s leaders searched for a nonprofit that married those three passions,” said Alex Bakkum, chief philanthropy officer for the Scripps family. “We could find no better partner for inspiring future aviators than the EAA and its remarkable AeroEducate program.”
