September 30, 2015

Girls in Aviation Day: Raleigh, N.C.

At Raleigh-Durham International Airport, F/O Valerie Barrett (United) organized an event for about 50 girls and their parents, with speakers and volunteers from the military, airlines, ATC, airport management, engineering, and more. She said of her fellow volunteers, “We all share the same vision, which is to encourage anyone in any part of aviation through education, fellowship, and community outreach.”

As her local chapter is less than a year old, she admitted that, “When we set out to host Girls in Aviation Day, we had no idea how much interest we would get.” However, more than 50 girls braved a rainy day to learn more about the industry. After hearing from the speakers, she reported, “the girls split up into groups to different activities, including learning the forces of flight and making their own paper airplanes, a hangar tour, map reading, and getting to check out different airplanes and fire trucks.”

Barrett was thrilled with the event overall, and her favorite quote of the day, she said, was when one little girl enthused, “This is the best day of my life so far!”

Smiles abound on both girls and volunteers at Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

See ALPA’s Flickr page for photographs of the various Girls in Aviation Day events submitted by pilots. Did you attend an event and want to share your own photos? Share with us using #girlsinaviation, or send to Communications@alpa.org and we’ll add them to the collection.

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