Anna Stanphill of Deland, Florida was awarded the 5th Martha King Scholarship for Female Flight Instructors during the annual Women in Aviation International Conference in Orlando, Florida. The scholarship is valued at over $18,000 and consists of $5,000 cash toward obtaining an initial flight instructor certificate or added ratings and free, lifetime access to all King Schools courses including Flight Instructor Refresher Courses (FIRCs) for life.
Martha King Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of King Schools said “I love making the phone calls to our scholarship winners. Letting them know that they are going to get help in making their dreams come true is just plain awesome. What really stood out was that Anna has made good friends every step of the way and those people have been passionate in supporting her. The letters from her mentors were incredible.”
Anna commented, “It is an absolute honor that King Schools has chosen me for the scholarship. Martha’s certificate and rating accomplishments are amazing, and she stands out in every way as a role model to women. To me, the Martha King scholarship is more than just the money and courses. It is an extraordinary compliment and confirmation that leaving an established career to pursue aviation was a decision well made.”
Anna continued, “After getting married several years ago, my husband and I decided to pursue our private certificates in lieu of a honeymoon. It took a while for me to complete my private training while working full-time, and during that period I met many other pilots that had pursued commercial flying as a career change. It inspired me and after 5 months of research and planning, I resigned from my job so I could train full time all the way to ATP. I took a loan out and used my savings to pay for flight training and living expenses but ran out before obtaining my CFI. Now I have a part-time job to help cover living expenses while I continue to study for my CFI. This scholarship is exactly what I needed to complete the flight training, and the timing could not be better.”
Martha added, “After careful planning, Anna quit her full-time job and took up flying full-time. She obtained her instrument, commercial, and multi-engine training in just seven months. Anna was not in any accelerated school program to get these ratings; she self-studied and used every opportunity to fly, proving just how much determined she is. Recently, she has been flying supplies back and forth to the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian. Her passion for aviation is obvious, and she has made sacrifices to become a pilot. We are happy to help her fulfill her dream.”
The WAI Martha King Scholarship for Female Flight Instructors was donated by King Schools. Martha King, along with her husband John King, created King Schools in 1974. Anna Stanphill is the 5th recipient of the scholarship. Applications for the 2021 scholarship will be available on the WAI website in mid-2020. More information is available at these two websites:
• www.KingSchools.com/scholarship
• www.WAI.org/education/scholarships
