Habitat for Aviation: Learning by doing [General Aviation News]
Beth White ’00 is founder and director of Habitat for Aviation, a first-of-its kind apprenticeship program for young airplane mechanics and pilots, with a focus on getting young women into the male-dominated field.
Habitat is a word usually reserved for ecological spaces, but one part of the definition is a place where a person or group can thrive.
Beth White of Milton, Vermont, created a habitat using aviation to nurture an environment where young women do more than thrive. What Beth has brought to life with Habitat for Aviation’s Women Build Planes program is amazing. Her program does more than build airplanes — it introduces women and girls to commitment, connections, and community.
What she built is not the most amazing thing. How she built it is.
Beth earned her bachelors degree in Human Ecology, the study of how humans interact with their environments, from the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine. This is where she was introduced to formalized experiential education, which is learning by doing.
After working at the high school she graduated from in Hinesburg, Vermont, she returned to school at Antioch University New England, where she earned a Masters degree. A decade later she earned her PhD from the University of Vermont in educational leadership and policy.
Without realizing it, the foundation was set for the birth of Habitat for Aviation. She just had not yet discovered airplanes — that was until she picked up a memoir by Beryl Markham.