Includes $5,000 Towards A New CFI Rating Or Certificate

Andrea Garcia of Buena Park, California is the winner of the King Schools and National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI) 2019 CFI scholarship. The scholarship consists of $5,000 toward a new CFI rating or certificate, and free lifetime access to all King Schools courses, including lifetime Flight Instructor Refresher Courses (FIRCs). The estimated value is over $18,000.

Andrea was an award winning music teacher in Long Beach, CA during her “first career.” Since 2014, when she committed herself to aviation, Andrea has progressed from being a student pilot to a commercial pilot, logging over 900 hours and passing her ATP written while also obtaining her Advanced Ground Instructor and Instrument Ground Instructor certificates. All this progress has been made outside of a traditional aviation school or fast track program.

"Over the next year in my pursuit of achieving my Airline Transport Pilot Certificate and becoming a Captain, I see myself obtaining my CFI-A Certificate, my Instrument Helicopter Certificate and MEI certificate," Garcia said. "I am a single parent, which is financially challenging in Southern California. To obtain my initial ratings I sold my home, worked, took out loans, and maxed out my credit cards. Beyond money, another challenge I have had in aviation has been being able to move forward with my aviation goals while still spending time with my son before he graduates in 2020.”

Andrea has been doing much more than flying and parenting. Since 2014 she has organized, judged or helped others with over 65 aviation events. She has been the President of Women in Corporate Aviation and serves on the Board of the Orange County, CA chapters of Women in Aviation International (WAI) and the 99s. In addition, she is an active member of the International Aerobatic Club, Whirly Girls and the EAA Explorers 445.

John King, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of King Schools, commented “Andrea has an enthusiastic, infectious personality that no doubt makes flying with her fun. Her passion for connecting young people to aviation is what we need to ensure future generations have the opportunity to fly with competent and passionate instructors.”

Martha King, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of King Schools, added, “Through the scholarship evaluation process, we get to meet extraordinary people with lots of passion who have strong beliefs about paying it forward. We are delighted to get to know Andrea. One of our scholarship criteria is ‘Will this person contribute to the aviation community?’, and we have no doubt that Andrea will continue to give back and help many more people as a CFI and mentor.”

Robert Meder, the Chairman of NAFI, said, “Andrea exemplifies what it means to give back to aviation. We have selected someone who was a passionate, award-winning music teacher. She now wants to use her learned and earned teaching skills to mentor future pilots--she’s a great representative for NAFI and our mission.”

The scholarship was presented at the King Schools press conference at SUN ‘n FUN 2019 in Lakeland, Florida. Applications for the 2020 NAFI/King Schools scholarship will become available in August of 2019, and the deadline to submit scholarship applications will be January 2nd 2020.

(Image provided with King Schools news release)

FMI: www.kingschools.com