TPA hosts second annual GALA Summer Camp exposing teen girls to careers in aviation
Students from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay got an airfield tour as part of their week-long summer camp focused on aviation and STEM careers.
For the second year in a row, a group of young ladies from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay had the rare opportunity to tour the airfield and watch planes take off and land just feet away from TPA’s Runway 1L-19R. The experience is part of the Girls Achieving Leadership in Aviation (GALA) program, which aims to provide exposure and opportunities to young women interested in careers as pilots, maintenance technicians, air traffic controllers, airport executives, or any of the many other exciting roles in aviation.
The summer camp is hosted by the Florida Aerospace Training Center and funded by money raised at the Tampa Bay Aviation Association's annual GALA event honoring women in aviation.
The teens enjoyed a full week of aviation fun, with visits from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office aviation unit, a trip to aviation training and simulator company CAE, and a presentation on emergency responses from Air Ambulance Worldwide, all while meeting women currently working in the aviation industry.
In addition to the summer camp, the GALA program hosts an annual fundraiser at Peter O. Knight Airport to help create scholarships for young women interested in entering the field of aviation.
A big thank you to all of the sponsors who helped make this incredible learning experience possible.
