GORE BAY – Avery Sheppard is Manitoulin’s first scholarship student pilot. A Grade 11 student from Mindemoya, Avery’s goal is to earn her Private Pilot’s Licence. She was selected by the Gore Bay Flying Club as this year’s recipient of their new Youth Pilot Training Scholarship. The scholarship covers all the recipient’s costs to earn a licence, normally several thousand dollars, with donations from the Island community.
Ms. Sheppard’s first flying lesson was Thursday, June 6, with the Club’s instructor Wade Cook, in the club plane, a Piper Cherokee 140. The young student pilot’s response was enthusiastic when she stepped off the plane wing and said, “that was great!”
“Students have to earn this scholarship with time commitment and hard work,” Mr. Cook commented. “Avery has a good start already in meeting the first of several demanding requirements.”
“The Gore Bay Flying Club is pleased to have this capable young woman receiving our first scholarship,” stated Mark Wilson, chair of the scholarship committee. “We want Grade 10 and 11 students to apply for our scholarship each fall, so we can help another Manitoulin youth each year earn a licence to fly.”
