2024 Young Eagles Volunteer Awards

August 2024 — Congratulations to the following EAA Young Eagles volunteers who were awarded at EAA AirVenture 2024! These volunteers were nominated by their peers because of their exceptional efforts in support of the Young Eagles program. Young Eagles volunteer awards were presented at the Young Eagles dinner held in the EAA Aviation Museum Founders’ Wing on Tuesday, July 23, 2024.

Young Eagles Coordinator Awards

Bec Sankauskas — EAA Chapter 20 — San Carlos, California

Although Bec has only been in the position of Young Eagles coordinator for three years, she has already been instrumental in building up EAA Chapter 20’s Young Eagles program. She has more than a dozen regular youth volunteers who assist with Young Eagles rallies, as well as a committed adult volunteer crew. She has up to 10 pilots supporting each event and regularly sees 30-50 youths signed up to take flights at the San Carlos Airport.

Bec is equally as skillful in her outreach to the youth community in the San Francisco Bay Area to help drive new and repeat Young Eagles to the chapter every month. The youths who attend the Chapter 20 events come from all around the Bay Area, some traveling more than 50 miles to visit the well-run Young Eagles days at San Carlos.

Bec’s dedication to the monthly events is obvious, but her most instrumental efforts have been coordinating with the San Carlos Airport administration, the local FBO, and her personal time spent learning and perfecting the online registration process.

Debbie Redding — EAA Chapter 113 — Canton, Michigan

As a 20-year Young Eagles coordinator veteran, Debbie blends her education in business administration with her professional careers in business, academia, and aviation to administer the EAA Chapter 113 Young Eagles program to near perfection. She has also helped coordinate Young Eagles rallies at other local airports in addition to her chapter’s. Pilots come from all over the region to fly at Chapter 113 Young Eagles rallies based on Debbie’s reputation.

As a mother, Debbie also has a unique perspective on details many people miss. This enhances the joy and safety of each Young Eagles experience for riders, pilots, and ground volunteers. Debbie participated in the development and beta testing of the Young Eagles Day online registration software and paperless documentation, along with trying new procedures like using restaurant pagers to locate the next rider in sequence. At her behest, the volunteer pilots now carry pocket cards detailing contingency plans for Young Eagles flights.

Debbie is the chapter’s go-to person for all things Young Eagles, both at the rally and individual ride level. The president of EAA Chapter 113 said it best: “I sleep well at night knowing that both the next Young Eagles rally and any one-off flights, as well as the future of EAA’s Young Eagles program, are in the best hands here in EAA Chapter 113.”

John Dutcher — EAA Chapter 227 — Waterloo, Iowa

In the words of John’s chapter peers, “While we don’t know every Young Eagles coordinator, I believe no one works harder than John to promote Young Eagles opportunities to local youths.” They go on to mention John’s dedication to not only EAA Chapter 227, but other Young Eagles rallies in the area.

Outside of his duties as coordinator, John is actively involved in assisting other chapters as a Young Eagles pilot. In addition, he has shared helpful feedback to help those chapters grow and improve the efficiency of their Young Eagles events. John uses his passion for flying kids to inspire other pilots to fly as many Young Eagles as possible. He is always thinking about ways to capture the imagination of the public and attract new attendees to Young Eagles events. This includes his most recent idea of creating a 16-foot-wide banner, which reads “Remember your first airplane flight?”

John spearheaded the organization of a Young Eagles event at an underserved airport more than an hour away. The word got out that there would be a small number of flights, and the number of interested kids exploded. Undeterred, John had the vision to reach out to other EAA chapters in the area and recruited enough pilots from those chapters to make the event a success.

Although John puts in long hours the night before, and the morning of Chapter 227 Young Eagles rallies, he writes personal thank-you notes to each volunteer and provides final event details to each pilot.

Young Eagles Ground Volunteer Award

Arlene Newman — EAA Chapter 898 — Tom’s River, New Jersey

Arlene has always been active within her chapter, eager to lend a helping hand. She was the chapter secretary for EAA Chapter 898 in 2021 and 2022, and even though she stepped down, she was always willing to help the chapter with any of their needs.

Arlene was always one of the first faces the Young Eagles and their families would see, as she would run the registration table. Registration is no easy feat, yet Arlene ensured that every parent was treated with respect, regardless of the parent’s behavior.

Prior to online registration, Arlene was sure to take care in making sure each and every Young Eagles registration form was properly filled out for the chapter. EAA 898 hosts annual rallies in the month of June that would fly 100 or more Young Eagles — that’s a lot of forms to take care of. She can handle long lines with ease and poise, ensuring that her Young Eagles coordinator can rest easy knowing that Arlene was there to help.

Young Eagles Horizon Award

Lisa Fusano — EAA Chapter 40 — Pacoima, California

The Young Eagles Horizon Award recognizes the exceptional efforts of a volunteer, EAA chapter, or organization in their support of youth aviation education and outreach. This award not only recognizes work with the EAA Young Eagles program, but any and all youth aviation initiatives.

This year’s Horizon Award recipient is Lisa Fusano from EAA Chapter 40. Lisa has become the epitome of the “Pay it forward” mentality, sharing her love and passion with those who may not have the opportunity otherwise. Her own inspiration was her World War II veteran father, who had his own love of aviation, but never had the chance to fly himself. Being a newly minted pilot in 2014, Lisa vowed to give back to the community that had her hooked ever since she was bitten by the aviation bug. Not only has she personally flown more than 850 Young Eagles since 2015, with more than 600 of them in the last four years alone, but she also flies her fair share of Eagle Flights as well.

Lisa is also the post advisor of the Aviation Explorer Post 747 out of Whiteman Airport in Pacoima, California, which works with youths to aid in their flight training. In recent years, she gained her CFI certificate to further give back to the community, and she continues to inspire those in all aviation groups around her, from Young Eagles to Aviation Explorers to the 99s. She works hard to inspire others and share her love of the sky.

Lisa’s nomination was from a fellow chapter member and parent of two Young Eagles-turned-pilots, all thanks to Lisa. To directly quote her nomination, “Her sacrifice of time, sharing of resources and knowledge as a pilot, and dedication to the youth of Southern California has made a significant difference in the life goals of my children. By offering her time and resources, my children have learned the value of leadership, volunteering, service, and perseverance to set goals and obtain them.”

Phillips 66 Young Eagles Leadership Award

Gordon Davis — EAA Chapter 1522 — Cynthiana, Kentucky

This award is presented by Phillips 66 Aviation to recognize an individual who has made significant contributions to the EAA Young Eagles program.

This year’s recipient is Gordon Davis from EAA Chapter 1522. Gordon had a lifelong dream of flying, which, after a successful career in IT, finally became reality at age 40 when he obtained his pilot certificate. He began volunteering for the EAA Young Eagles program in 2010 and to date has flown more than 890 Young Eagles. Gordon and his wife Cathy also serve as Young Eagles coordinators for their chapter.

Gordon’s efforts, and the efforts of his fellow volunteers and Chapter 1522 members, have made the Young Eagles program the heart of their local airport in Cynthiana, Kentucky. Every chapter gathering concludes with Young Eagles flights (weather permitting). Countless youths who flew at the airport have gone on to become pilots and pursue vocations and hobbies in aviation.

Aside from the Young Eagles program, Gordon also serves as president of EAA Chapter 1522 and has contributed to the chapter’s other youth programs, including the Young Eagles Build and Fly program, the Ray Aviation Scholarship, and an RV-12 teen build project. He previously served on the EAA Chapter Advisory Council from 2016 through 2021 and was an EAA technical counselor. Gordon built and flies a Van’s RV-7A.