HIGHGATE, Vt. (WCAX) – Women like Abby Demar of St. Albans enjoy thinking outside of the box.
“I really like just learning like something new and it’s not something people know about, so I think it’s really interesting to just Ike have that in my day-to-day life,” Demar said.
Demar and other girls are a part of Habitat for Aviation where they meet every Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm and get to work.
“We are building a Rans S-21 kit plane with an all-women and girls’ team and we meet every Sunday and it’s pretty magical,” Beth White of Habitat for Aviation said.
Beth White says with only 2.6% Of women in mechanics, she is trying to inspire the younger generation of girls.
“It’s really important for women to be involved in this field because it gives them a sense of confidence. We are also training the next generation of airplane maintainers,” she said.
White says she wants girls to know that they can build, fly, and maintain airplanes no matter where they are.
“We’re working on something real, it’s not a fake project or a stimulated project it’s a real airplane that we’re building, and I think it’s just, it’s a pretty powerful experience each weekend,” she said.
Swanton resident Taylor Bushey is only in the 8th grade but she enjoys being surrounded by this group of women.
“They’re very supportive and if I have any problems like in school outside of school they’ll help me with it so I know I can trust them,” Bushey said.
Milton resident Bianca Marrier is one of only a few women who carry an airplane mechanic license in Vermont.
“It was really exciting, and I just had such a passion for it immediately it was really down to the moment I saw it and just kept going,” Marrier said.
And her daughter Laila is following in her footsteps.
“Listening to what some of the males say would say in the industry that could be so negative I wanted to be able to prove them wrong,” Laila said.
White encourages women to keep following their dreams despite the challenges they may face.
“I think I would let girls know that even if they don’t see people who look like them in the cockpits of airplanes or in an airplane maintenance hangar, they can still pursue this and there is a pathway for them, and we want them in these fields,” she said.
The nonprofit focuses on growing an apprenticeship program that trains the next generation of aviation technicians.
