Women in Aviation event encourages young ladies to pursue dreams of working in aviation

“As an organization, AWAM, the school and the companies in the field are promoting areas of aviation that women are able to work in,” said Thomas Stose, director of the school. “Ladies who work in aviation have always had successful careers in aviation.”

Stose said there’s a misconception that women cannot work in manufacturing roles such as those in aviation maintenance, but he’s not sure why since women have been a part of the field for decades.

“It goes back to World War II when we had Rosie the Riveter building all of our aircraft for us,” Stose said. “Women have always had a natural place in aviation.”

The event was organized by the Mountain State chapter of AWAM, of which Stose’s wife, Kathy, is a supporting member.

“We are relatively new — we’ve been in existence for about a year to a year-and-a-half,” Kathy Stose said. “We are a nationally recognized group for women in aviation maintenance, and even for men in aviation maintenance.”

Twenty-five young women from West Virginia and Ohio spent several hours Saturday learning about various aspects of both the science behind flight and the way that aircraft are built and maintained today.

Jaya Bowen, 18, of Fairmont, said she attended Saturday at the urging of Cindy Rodina, an instructor at the school who also attends her church. She’s glad she attended.

“I learned how the air can go through the engines on the side of the airplanes, and how it’s held on with only 18 bolts,” Bowen said.

The day may have even influenced her career path. Bowen said she’s not sure if she wants to go into nursing or aviation.

“I like to work with my hands, so this was really interesting to me,” Bowen said. “Airplanes have always fascinated me. The fact that it’s a huge piece of metal in the sky and that it can fly so gracefully is exciting.”

Bowen’s younger sister, Makia, 11, said she enjoys technology, and was also happy that she attended. The 3D printer display was her favorite portion of the day — it was the first time she’d ever seen such a device.

“They made these little toys and these key chains,” the younger Bowen said.

Sarah Slater, 16, of Belpre, Ohio, visited because her Girl Scout leader told her about the event.

“It was great,” Slater said. “I got to learn how planes fly.”

Reese Simon, 11, of Nutter Fort, also learned about the event from Girl Scouts.

“I thought it was a lot of fun,” Simon said. “It was interesting to learn about airplanes. I didn’t know how the science of flight worked.”

Although she enjoyed the day, Simon said she’s still holding on to her dream of someday becoming a chef.

Youth at the event learned a lot from Laurie McCormick, the workforce recruiter at the Robert C. Byrd Institute who brought the 3D printer Saturday.

“We’ve had several women in manufacturing,” McCormick said.

Her school, which is adjacent to Stose’s, teaches students about many aspects of the manufacturing industry, of which aviation maintenance is just a part. McCormick has seen many women who have come through school go on to achieve great success after graduation.