This article originally comes from Riverbend.com on December 9, 2025
The 2025 Take Flight Forum, hosted by Bi-State Development’s St. Louis Regional Freightway, brought together aviation leaders, educators, and students to explore the region’s dynamic aerospace ecosystem and the expanding opportunities for youth in aviation and STEM careers. The event, themed “STEM to Sky!,” featured a compelling panel discussion with Dr. Jennifer Kephart, Superintendent of the School District of Washington, Missouri, and Yolandea Wood, President of the Hugh J. White Tuskegee Airmen Chapter and Director of the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals’ ACE Academy serving the St. Louis region.
The panel’s message was clear: hands-on experiences, mentorship and scholarships are widely available right here in the St. Louis region, but more students need to step forward and seize them. Yolandea Wood described a suite of programs through the Hugh J. White Tuskegee Airmen Chapter and Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals’ ACE Academy designed to motivate youth to achieve, including drone flights, discovery flights and immersive STEM activities. Her outreach spans Missouri, Illinois, and beyond with different programs geared for students in group and individual settings available for those in elementary through college.
