ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis program is paving the way for future pilots, and rewriting narratives in the process. The Red Tail Cadet Program is a six-week training program to set teenagers on a path toward a career in aviation. It's an innovative, hands-on course teaching students like Ford from the Ferguson-Florissant School District to fly planes.
"I realized right then there's a narrative," pastor and program spearhead Anthony Meyers said. "We have to change the story."
He said this program lets these students remind themselves, and the world, that they are the writers of their future.
“Let this brain trust stay in St. Louis," he said. "It’s important to our growth and our future. They get to start a legacy now.”
One cadet, Grace Ford, said her family always told her, "sky's the limit," growing up - that is until this program's opportunity set a limit even higher than the sky.
"Now it seems like I can't do a job without incorporating aviation somehow," she said.
Not only does this program teach kids how to fly from the ground up, but it's also combatting a nationwide pilot shortage by teaching these kids how to do much more than just fly planes.
"They're intelligent, they're articulate, they're well-read," Meyers said. "So you put all that into the workplace, plus they can fly!"
It's a program full of leaders, like one recent graduate of the program's first class, who decided to come back the second year to serve as captain.
“I’ve always liked planes, but flying them was another level," Derreck Beal said. He told 5 On Your Side he plans to go to flight school to get his private pilot's license.
Watching people like Beal is what inspired students like Jalen Reynolds to join, too.
“A lot of opportunities were being presented to him," Beal said. "So I wanted to be a part of that.”
This program is writing endless narratives of its own: for pilots, for St. Louis, and for Grace Ford's very own family.
"I want to be you because you're a pilot, you fly planes, and you look and sound like me."
"I want to affect African American children and girls and show them there's representation being made," Ford said.
The Red Tail Cadet Program is already seeking its next class of applicants. You can visit their website to apply and learn more about their program.