Helping Youth Soar
As part of SVP Portland, the Encore Fellows program provides a source of expertise for nonprofit organizations, helps individuals (Fellows) transition from their careers into social-purpose work, and gives corporations a new way to positively impact their communities. Encore Fellows who have retired from a career are matched with host nonprofit organizations based on their passions, skills, and experience.
When Helen Gould’s son was in high school, he spent six hours every Saturday for over 80 weeks working alongside other teens to build a plane–not a model or a replica, but an actual RV-12 aircraft! The TeenFlight program, through Airway Science for Kids (ASK), provides students hands-on, project-based learning, to build an airplane under the guidance of mentors who are aircraft designers, builders, and pilots. Students in this program learn about teamwork, engineering, and discipline, and some have even gone on to careers in the aviation industry. Helen says, “these students are actually learning real skills that are readily marketable.”
ASK is an educational nonprofit organization in the Portland-metro area, founded 30 years ago by Bob Strickland, a Black veteran of the Air Force and leader in Portland’s African American community. It’s mission is to create equity through aerospace STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) education, with a focus on youth of color, girls, and economically disadvantaged students aged 10 to 21. The TakeFlight program provides positive STEAM experiences for elementary school students, InFlight gives advanced lessons introducing engineering processes to middle and high school students, and TeenFlight is a high school program where students build a real two-seat plane.
Since Helen worked on automated vehicles and autonomous aerial systems at Intel before she retired, and because she was familiar with ASK through her involvement as a TeenFlight parent, the organization was a natural fit for her Encore Fellowship. Dan Perich has been passionate about aviation for his whole life, even earning a private pilot’s license, so ASK’s focus on aerospace and education was enticing when he retired from Intel. As Encore Fellows, Helen and Dan originally planned to create process documentation for the TeenFlight program to facilitate the continuity and scaling of the program. However, TeenFlight suspended operations in spring 2020 due to COVID, which made their original Encore Fellowship plan infeasible. However, ASK was nimble and creative. They quickly shifted their focus to assisting Portland Public Schools by providing remote science classes to 5th grade students, and helping to distribute food and services to COVID-impacted minority communities.
Helen and Dan also had to be flexible, so they pivoted to planning, designing, and publishing a yearbook for TeenFlight 7. The yearbook documented the TeenFlight build process and included vital program history, providing a valued memento for participants and a crucial marketing tool for engaging donors. Helen and Dan also made significant contributions to ASK’s fundraising efforts. Dan planned and produced ten informational and inspirational marketing videos, while Helen served as a liaison to the TeenFlight parents and as a coordinator of the Ambassadors in support of the 2020 and 2021 annual fundraisers, which raised $200,000.
ASK has been a pivotal part of what was once the heart of the Black community in N and NE Portland, and the organization continues to be committed to realizing Bob Strickland’s dream: to ensure that youth of color and youth whose families are living on low-incomes are introduced to the field of aviation to broaden their horizons. In late 2019, ASK acquired a run-down 8000 square-foot facility in N Portland and renovated it into working order. The Aerospace Training Center (ATC) is located on N Mississippi Avenue, and is now a space filled with flight simulators, 3D printers, and drone obstacle courses. Most importantly, in addition to the historic Hillsboro Airport site, the ATC will be a place of opportunity and engagement where imaginations can take flight.