Community Volunteers - Aviation Nation

I want to fly all over the world and have my photo taken with community volunteers or their projects or the airplanes that got me there (just like a politician).  Bob voyage!

Since the theme of this tag is about being a "Community Volunteer", I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about how I volunteer at the Jennings County High School (Indiana, USA) in a student program that builds airplanes, REAL AIRPLANES!  In fact, we are building  our 3rd Vans RV-12 at JCHS.  We started in 2010 with a program called Eagles Nest that built the first two RV-12s. I am an airline pilot for a living and I love to share my passion for everything aviation with young people and help spark an interest in not only aviation, but all things that are related to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.  My friend Bob Kelly founded Eagles Nest which has since split from Eagles Nest split and now our local program is known as Aviation Nation.  More friends and family got involved with Eagles Nest and that program is still going strong in Texas, Florida and Wisconsin.  Since I'm still friends with everyone in Eagles Nest, we proudly display our personal aircraft "Eagles Nest One" that we purchased from Eagles Nest at the major fly-Ins.  In 2016, we had 7 of the 8 completed airplanes at Sun-n-Fun in Lakeland, FL and Airventure in Oshkosh, WI.  I have visited Teen Flight RV-12 builds in Payullup, WA, Hillsboro, OR and another program in Sarasota, FL building the same airplanes , but more importantly the students sense of confidence and accomplishment.  A few years back, I remember telling the President of Eagles Nest that I wish that I had the money to sponsor one of these projects, because it would be the ideal way to build your own airplane.  That dream came true in 2014 when Eagles Nest and Aviation Nation parted ways and Eagles Nest One was offered up for sale.  I made an offer on it that was promptly accepted, so I became the new owner of EN1.  While EN1 was in the program, 3 young men earned their pilot certificates in the aircraft that they built.  Currently 2 of them are professional aircraft mechanics and the youngest one is in a professional pilot program.  Many of the other young men and women who have participated are doing well in STEM fields also.  When the first project started, most of the students didn't believe that we would actually build an airplane that would fly.  I don't think any of them imagined that they would earn a pilot certificate in the airplane that they built or make a career out of aviation.  That's why I volunteer in my community.