Naomi Wigley

Grade: 12

Started with SA in: Grade 6

Future plans: Commercial pilot and maybe join the Air National Guard

Role model: “My mentor through Women in Aviation, Kelsey Fulton. She is a Jet Blue first officer who has an amazing work ethic that I respect, and because she pursued her passion for aviation even though it required a complete career change.”

Favorite thing about SA: “We have a strong yearbook program that has a history of striving for greatness.”

Spotlight: A high school senior and editor-in-chief of the yearbook at SA, Naomi uses her time outside of school to work towards her dream of becoming a pilot which began with an interest in the Air Force. Early in her freshman year, her father suggested she investigate careers in air traffic control, which led to finding the High Flight Academy at the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport and the opportunity to take a Discovery Flight. “After that flight, I was hooked,” she said. With the help of scholarships from the Make-A-Pilot Foundation and the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), Naomi has flown and logged nearly 70 hours since Grade 10, at least 10 of which have been solo. She is currently a member of the Condor Aero Club in Zelienople and anticipates completing the oral exam and “check ride” in the next few weeks which are the final steps to earning her pilot’s license. Her training has included three flight camps including two last year through the Girls in Flight Training (GIFT) Academy and one this past summer with the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF). These camps have allowed her to expand her wings beyond the Pittsburgh region and experience the skies in Maryland, Texas, and Idaho. Regarding her career plans, she has been accepted to both Southern Illinois and Arizona State, two universities offering flight programs. She is also considering joining the Air National Guard, acknowledging that, “I’m a patriotic person, disciplined, and up for the challenge.”