Fly Girls

Written By Beth White

Habitat for Aviation was thrilled to welcome Seven Days reporter, Alison Novak, who spent an afternoon with our Women Build Planes Team on February 11, 2024. Her delightful article Fly Girls: A Franklin County Nonprofit Is Drawing Young Women Into Aviation Careers, beautifully captured the essence of our mission and highlighted the transformative journey on which we’ve embarked to encourage youth, especially women, to explore careers in aviation. We loved Novak’s insightful questions and genuine interest in our programs, and were grateful for the opportunity to share more about our non-profit’s plans for the future.

Novak painted a vivid picture of our bustling hangar at the Franklin County State Airport, where youth and adult women, clad in vibrant pink overalls, are shattering gender stereotypes through their hands-on experiences in aviation. As we continue to expand our initiatives, including gender-inclusive airplane builds and partnerships with local educational institutions and companies, we are grateful for the support of our community, especially for the dedicated volunteers who share our vision of a vibrant aviation sector.

In her interview with WCAX, Alison Novak shared details about our work with Darren Parron and we are incredibly grateful for the affirmations and to our friends in the media for showing the world that women FIX, BUILD, and FLY airplanes!

Beth White

The great John Dewey believed that we “learn best what we live,”—that individualized, first-hand experiences offer opportunity for individuals to develop deep understandings and interests. For me, an ideal learning environment is where transdisciplinary partnerships support personalized learning. These are places that offer experiences, events, and situations that inform, encourage, and reinforce learners’ self-conceptualizations of future possibilities.

Prior to starting Habitat for Aviation, I worked in a variety of New England schools, including The Met High School in Providence, RI (the “mothership” of the Big Picture Learning Network). After 10 years as a high school teacher, I returned to the classroom and earned a PhD in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Vermont.

My first-hand experiences include designing and running advisory programs, supporting democratically-oriented schooling, building service-learning and internship programs, teaching teachers and pre-service educators, and designing and implementing alternative forms of assessment. I love working for Big Picture Learning where I am heavily involved with the Harbor Freight Fellowship Initiative to get youth into the skilled trades and B-Unbound, which connects youth to supportive adults who share their interests.

In the earliest days of my career, I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Human Ecology from College of the Atlantic and a Master of Science in Environmental Studies with New Hampshire teaching certificates in biology and earth and space sciences from Antioch New England University.

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A Brief But Spectacular Film on Habitat for Aviation Airs on PBS NewsHour