While some high school students spent the summer doing odd jobs or hanging out with friends, Sophia Ivchenko, a student at Tomball Memorial High School in Cypress, TX, and Reva Jogdand, a student at Stephen F. Austin High School in Richmond, TX, completed an intensive eight-week U.S. Navy Summer Flight Academy aviation program at Delaware State University, achieving their FAA Private Pilot’s licenses upon completion of the training. The program is taking place from June 12 – August 3.

Jogdand, a first-generation American, and Ivchenko are two of just 28 high-ability 11th and 12th graders throughout the United States selected for the elite program, which was established in 2021 by the Commander, Naval Air Forces (CNAF) to increase diversity in Naval aviation. The Navy partners with select universities throughout the country to provide the flight training to the participating students. The cost of the program is approximately $28,000/student but is offered at zero cost to the student and with no obligations. Upon completion of the program, each student earns a private pilot certification/license and five college credits.

The majority of selects for the 2023 CNAF Class represent demographic groups that are historically underrepresented in the field of aviation, with an equal male/female split. The 2023 class also boasts multiple First-Generation-Americans who are leaders in their JROTC programs and hope to serve their country by one day flying for the U.S. military. CNAF is proud of the international representation from this year’s cohort, which features Cadets with ties to Japan, Iran, India, Ukraine, and the Philippines.

The Department of the Navy sponsors the Summer Flight Academy program for students participating in Navy and Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps. The program is a new STEM initiative that was selected for funding by the Naval STEM Coordination Office – located at the Office of Naval Research – which oversees investments in STEM education, outreach and workforce initiatives.

“The goal of the scholarship program is to expose exceptional minority students to a career path that currently lacks diversity,” says LT Olivia Barrau, E-2C Hawkeye Naval Flight Officer, CNAF Operations Officer for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and CNAF Flight Academy Program Manager. “Sophia Ivchenko and Reva Jogdand have what it takes to be leaders in the field of aviation, and the Navy is honored to have played a part in their personal and professional journey.”

CNAF Flight Academy graduates from 2021 and 2022 now represent the program at all three Service Academies (USNA, USAFA, and USMA), and ROTC units and universities across the country at places like Morehouse College, Tuskegee University, Embry Riddle Aeronautical Institution, Virginia Technical Institute, Delaware State University, Ohio State University, Arizona State University, and Hampton University. Roughly 78 percent of the program’s alumni are now directly affiliated with the U.S. Military, mostly through commissioning programs.

Ivchenko and Jogdand, who will be starting their senior years of high school this fall, both received more than 32 hours of classroom aviation academics and over 17 solo flight hours as part of their certification processes.