In article
,
John wrote:

We are exploring the notion of exchanging "work-time" for instruction/
flying time at our club. The idea is to offer this to younger folks
who show an interest in soaring/aviation, and would be a good worker.
Part of the goal is to assist with coverage on the field - especially
the wing-running role. I've heard of other clubs doing this, and
would like some details and thoughts on how others have implemented
such a program and any advice. If you would like to share details or
discuss this, feel free to email me directly.

Thanks,
John W

hi john,

You're right, there are a number of Juniors Programs around the country.
GBSC started theirs maybe 20 years (?) ago. Until about two years ago,
the board capped enrollment at about ten, raised it recently to fifteen.
For some of the details of our program, see http://www.soargbsc.com/ --
About -- Junior Program.

I think our club is pretty happy with the program. On the field, the
Juniors are a highly professional lot, eager to work with the SFO,
logger and pilots to make the ops run efficiently and safely. Over the
last four or five years, the program has produced a dozen or solo pilots
and six PPGs. Four graduates are building careers in aviation two of
whom have gone on to advanced ratings in gliders and SEL (including
CFI), another is a freshman at USAFA, another is an aviation major in
college. That's pretty cool and we all feel pretty good about that.

Something not clear to me, however, is the ROI to the club, indeed even
the need to determine an ROI. Certainly the Juniors provide field help
and that's worth something. Ideally, I would personally like to see
Juniors become eventual dues paying members. (Maybe that should just be
regarded icing on the cake?) While the graduates go on to great things
inside and outside of aviation, their participation in the club drops to
very low numbers once they finish as Juniors. I think this at least
partially comes from the relatively high cost of soaring (even at
half-priced student dues) and the relative poverty of college students.
If a goal is to bring Juniors into the club or soaring LONG term, then
the gap between Junior-hood and income-producing adulthood should
probably be bridged. So last year we got winch. So far, three PPG
Juniors/ex-Juniors have signed up to get winch endorsements this season.
Will let you know how THAT works out. :-)

Like John, I'd be interested in hearing how other clubs view their
Juniors programs, how they define effectiveness and so on.

cheers,

--ken