Mid Island Air Service In New York Received Charter In Late April 

The first AeroChapter of the Flight School Association of North America (FSANA) recieved its charter on April 23, 2015. Mid Island Air Service in Ronkonkoma, New York became the first FSANA chartered "AeroChapter", and fourteen youth from the local community attended their first AeroChapter meeting.
 

Gail Mancuso, Vice President of Mid Island Air Services stated, "We were overwhelmed ... at the strong turnout for the first meeting of our Mid Island Air Service AeroChapter. The AeroChapter program will become one of the best aviation and aerospace bridge programs in the history of civil aviation as more young people become engaged."
 
Chapter Advisors in attendance included Dan Brooks, Don Lawrence and Gail Mancuso. One of the first items on the agenda was the selection of chapter officers. Based on backgrounds and experience, the following youth members were announced as Interim Officers.
 

• President: Dylan Diaz
• Vice President: Tanner Asordorian
• Secretary: Alyssa Ardizzone

Guest speakers included Nicholas D'Amato, who earned his private pilot certificate in 41 hours through the Eastern Sufolk Boces Program (trained by Mid Island Air). Nicholas has had the opportunity to fly with Al Cerullo who is involved with the movie industry.
 
Also speaking was Peter Stauffer, founder of the the local Coast Guard Aux flotilla who spoke about the Coast Guard and their mission. He told the audience about how young people at age 17 can become involved with the Coast Guard as observers.

The youth members decided to hold their monthly chapter meetings on the fourth Thursday of each month. Their programs committee will begin to plan for future speakers and activities.

"It is exciting to see the youth of America starting to engage with our newly launched AeroChapter program. The FSANA AeroChapter program will afford young people the opportunity to take on positions of leadership, improve and learn new skill sets and become engaged aviation and aerospace participants," noted Bob Rockmaker, FSANA President and CEO.

AeroChapters are open to youth in grades 6-12. They provide youth with the opportunity to learn about and explore the many facets of the aviation and aerospace industry. Participants meet monthly and elect their own leaders and plan what programs they would like to pursue during the year. Our chapter advisors are on hand to provide guidance and mentorship. Youth members develop their leadership skills and explore aerospace industry disciplines that include science, technology, engineering and math, collectively known as STEM.
 
FSANA congratulates the Mid Island Air organization for stepping up and leading the way with this new and exciting program.

(Images provided by FSANA)

FMI: www.fsana.com