PROVIDENCE — Brigham Middle School student Leon-i Taylor has a high squeaky voice that gets higher as she describes the first time she flew on an airplane two weeks ago.
“The cars were so little they looked like people from up there,” she said. “I saw all kinds of colors.”
Taylor and 11 classmates took part in the Lambert-Lima Flying Squadron Cadets, a program designed to introduce minority students to careers in aviation, filmmaking, television and radio. Yesterday, the students graduated from the program in a ceremony at the John Hope Settlement House.
The aviation squadron was started two years ago by George S. Lima, 89, a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first group of black fighter and bomber pilots in the history of the U.S. Air Corps. Their performance during World War II dispelled reservations in Washington about the ability of black airmen to fly military planes.
Lima, who attended the graduation, said he started the program because it’s important for young people to know that aviation can be a career for them. He spoke to the class about his experiences as an airman during a time when blacks were segregated from whites. The program is run by the Black Air Foundation with a grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and other donations.
Students also visited a radio station and a television station. They visited the Quonset Air Museum. Pilot Frank Moreau took the students for a flight in his four-passenger plane. Moreau told the students they had to study hard because they need good grades to be accepted to a pilot school. For some students it was their first time flying.
Cayes DelPeche, 15, a student at Times2 Academy, had never been on an airplane before but the thought of sharing a flight far above the earth with a friend appealed to him.
“I was interested in flying, becoming a pilot,” he said. “I could see taking my family or kids someday. We went 5,000 feet up in the air. I saw Rhode Island and Massachusetts. We passed by Gillette Stadium.”
DelPeche said he had not been aware that black pilots had struggled so much. “I knew people had struggled to vote and with busing but I never knew they had to struggle to fly an airplane,” he said.
Chad Walton, a student at Providence County Day School, said the class gave him a peek at a possible career. He said flying in a plane and his visit to the Quonset museum inspired him. He was considering volunteering to help paint some of the planes at the museum.
Ernest K. Faison, a member of the Black Air Foundation board, told the students that the events of the past few days should serve as an inspiration for them to follow their dreams.
“I’m sure George Lima did not believe that he would see in his life what happened Tuesday when Barack Obama was elected president. What I’m saying to you is don’t ever not believe in your dreams. If you believe it, you can achieve it.”
tpina@projo.com
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