NBAA Partners With Aviation Week
In Education Initiative for the Future

The growth in aviation could be crippled by a lack of professionals choosing that avocation as a career unless action is taken immediately.

That is the belief not only of NBAA, but of McGraw-Hill's Aviation Week Group, which will today announce a grassroots initiative to motivate young people around the world to pursue careers in aerospace.

The initiative, "Mobilizing the Future," will encourage NBAA members to reach into their local classrooms and communities to raise the awareness of career opportunities in the aerospace industry. It is being spearheaded by Aviation Week's Next Century of Flight program and NBAA's AvKids, the organizations' respective education programs.

The two programs share a common objective to capitalize on the 100th anniversary of powered flight in 2003 and to help the aerospace industry attract future generations of professionals and leaders. Their partnership is part of a growing grassroots effort around the world to recruit and retain talented professionals in the aerospace business.

"All of us in the global aerospace industry today share an obligation to help inspire talented young people to dedicate their careers to the future of our great industry," said Aviation Week executive vice president/publisher Kenneth E. Gazzola. "We are proud to add NBAA to our growing partnership of Next Century of Flight partners, and look forward to working with association members and the AvKids team to promote aviation in local classrooms and communities."

This has long been a goal of NBAA. Said NBAA president Jack Olcott, " The AvKids partnership with Aviation Week's Next Century of Flight will significantly extend our efforts to teach children about aviation. We welcome Aviation Week's media and content resources to help our members connect with students in their local communities.

Aviation Week is known for taking an aggressive stance in offering leadership initiatives in the aerospace industry, while the NBAA standard of leadership is one of the premier models for advocacy. Mobilizing both in partnership is expected to produce dramatic results.

"We have enlisted the extraordinary resources of our parent company, McGraw-Hill, and its education businesses to help us connect this program into classrooms around the world," said Gazzola.
"In the U.S. alone, the first phase of our work with McGraw-Hill education will put us in 30 percent of U.S. kindergarten through 6th grade classrooms by 2003, and 40 percent of them by 2005. We expect no less success from our follow-on efforts with junior and senior high schools."

Aviation Week's Next Century of Flight promotes lessons about aviation to inspire students to become pioneers -- hopefully in aviation and the aerospace business. It is supported by industry partners such as Bombardier Aerospace and Computer Sciences Corp., and, of course, NBAA. Details at Booth 7756.