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Updated: June 30, 2024 @ 2:18 pm
Brady Earsom received a scholarship through the Found Foundation. Earsom’s goal is to work for airlines.
Deacon Clark received a scholarship through the Found Foundation. Clark hopes to get his private pilot certificate.
Joey Stewart received a sponsorship for the summer aviation camp at the Duncan Airport. One of Stewart’s favorite parts of the camp was the plane simulator.
Sebastian DeCarlo received a sponsorship for the summer aviation camp at the Duncan Airport. DeCarlo wants to be a pilot for the Air Force and NASA.
Brady Earsom received a scholarship through the Found Foundation. Earsom’s goal is to work for airlines.
Deacon Clark received a scholarship through the Found Foundation. Clark hopes to get his private pilot certificate.
Joey Stewart received a sponsorship for the summer aviation camp at the Duncan Airport. One of Stewart’s favorite parts of the camp was the plane simulator.
Sebastian DeCarlo received a sponsorship for the summer aviation camp at the Duncan Airport. DeCarlo wants to be a pilot for the Air Force and NASA.
The sky is the limit for students taking aviation to the next level and growing their skills through a scholarship program.
For students who show an interest in aviation, Adrianne Arrington, along with her family, created the Found Scholarship Program to help classes become more affordable for prospective pilots. The program launched in July 2023 in honor of the late Kody Wes Arrington.
This June, Brady Earsom and Deacon Clark received scholarships through the Found Foundation.
Adrianne Arrington, Kody’s mom, said Kody passed away Feb. 7, 2023, and they wanted to bring this scholarship to students as a way to honor the life Kody had and keep his passion for flying going strong.
Arrington said she began working with Todd Ledford at Duncan Public Schools to find students who are interested in the flight program and in need of the money to take the classes.
While in search for the right students, Arrington said she visited Duncan High School to speak with the students enrolled in the aviation program. She said she talked to them about the scholarships, as well as the purpose of the foundation.
With recommendations from Ledford, Arrington said to qualify for the scholarship she had the students write an essay.
Arrington said if she grants $1,000 toward the scholarship, a donor will match the funds.
Once they chose recipients, Arrington said she reached out to their donor to see if they can use the scholarship for flight hours, to which they agreed.
Ledford said both Earsom and Clark, who are preparing for their third year in the program, are “exceptional students.” Earsom is further along in his flight process and Clark will start his aviation flight lessons.
Ledford said he’s excited to see these students push forward to meet new goals.
As the second largest industry in Oklahoma, Ledford said its “really cool” to get to see the students pursue their aviation goals.
“It’s something where they can continue on after high school and possibly have a career in aviation of some sort,” Ledford said. “It’s kind of one of those programs where kids can go as far as they want to go with this. They can continue on to be pilots or commercial pilots or air traffic controllers.”
Clark said he’s grateful for this opportunity.
“I intend to use it to the fullest,” Clark said. “I hope to get my private pilot certificate before I finish my senior year.”
Clark’s future plans are to pursue a commercial rating at a university.
“Most importantly: I hope to glorify God through my flying,” Clark said.
Earsom said getting the scholarship will help take a lot stress off his shoulders and so he doesn’t have to worry as much about making the payments for the courses.
“Overall it just made the whole process of taking flying lessons a lot easier,” Earsom said.
With a goal to get his commercial license, Earsom said he wants to work for airlines.
Aside from high school students, Duncan Airport offers a summer aviation camp for younger kids.
Arrington said there were two young kids who wanted to do the program, but didn’t have the money to enroll. After receiving a few short essays, Arrington decided to sponsor Joey Stewart and Sebastian DeCarlo for the aviation camp.
When attending the summer camp, Joey Stewart said he wanted to learn about planes like Kody.
Stewart, 7, son of Sandy and Russ Stewart, participated in a variety of projects.
“I learned how to make real paper airplanes and how airplanes fly,” Stewart said.
One of Stewart’s favorite parts of the camp was the plane simulator.
Sebastian DeCarlo, 12, son of James DeCarlo and Melissa Crampton, said he loved everything about the aviation camp, especially “making the fighter jet.”
DeCarlo made the jet out paper and tape after learning about lifts and down drafts.
DeCarlo loved getting to get inside the planes as well.
With aviation dreams in mind, DeCarlo, who attends Marlow schools and will soon enter sixth grade, said he wants to be “the first man on mars.” He also wants to be a pilot for the Air Force and NASA.
Arrington said the program is doing well, but there’s a need for donations to give kids an opportunity to take the classes.
She said it’s $200 an hour to fly.
Arrington said the Duncan district has worked well with her to find students deserving of these scholarships and she loves when there’s a need and she can help fulfill it.
“I love that there’s a kid sitting in a room hearing about flying and thinking, ‘well, if I had the money, I could,’ and then I could actually get him in the air,” she said. “That’s really cool.”
Arrington said she wants the opportunity to say yes to every student who applies.
For those interested in applying for the scholarship, email adrianne@realestateexpertsllc.com. To find the Venmo link, like and follow the Found Scholarship Program on Facebook or visit BancFirst in Duncan. Checks can be mailed to Found Scholarship Program at 115 S. 8th St., Duncan, OK 73533.
For more information or to apply for the scholarship, email foundscholarshipprogram@gmail.com.
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