Demetrius, at the age of ten, was brought to the mentoring program by his grandmother, Helen. Like many young black children, he grew up in a non-traditional household; his single mother and his grandmother; and without a father in his life. In his first year with the mentoring program, during a meeting, one of the group mentors introduced the young men to a week long summer aviation camp at the Los Angeles International Airport called Aviation Careers Education (ACE). ACE allowed middle and high school students an opportunity to learn about various career fields within the aviation field. Demetrious immediately signed up and participated in that program every year from 12 years old, until he graduated at 17.
At his first ACE camp, Demetrious was introduced to flight simulations and decided, at that point, that he wanted to become a pilot. Due to the high costs of flying lessons, Demetrious was unable to immediately pursue flying lessons; however he secured a job at his church, the City of Refuge, and continued to save his money while also taking computer based flight simulation classes in preparation for the real thing one day! At the age of 14, Demetrious began taking flying lessons and set a goal that he would be able to fly, solo, for the first time on his 16th birthday. On his 16th birthday he accomplished that goal, in the presence of his family, friends, flight instructors and his mentors! Thereafter, on December 21, 2012, Demetrious passed his Private Pilot Check Ride and became a licensed pilot!
In June 2013, Demetrius graduated from Manual Arts High School with a GPA of 3.5. Fall 2013, Demetrius will begin his studies at the University Of North Dakota in their Commercial Aviation program. He is on his way to becoming a Professional Pilot and Flight Instructor! And in that journey, he remains dedicated to “paying it forward” and volunteers his time, through the Young Eagles program, where he gives young students their first flights in airplanes, through the ACE program. We look forward to having he return to the mentoring program as a testimony of what can be accomplished with hard work, focus and commitment!
TUNGSTEN PROTEGES MALE MENTORING
On November, 23, 2013, Sons of Abraham mentee, Trent William Lee was honored at the Eagle Court of Honor ceremony, becoming the first African American Eagle Scout from the Boys Scout of America, Los Angeles Area Council Troup 780. An Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America. As part of achieving this rank, Trent completed his Eagle Scout Service Project, by recruiting a crew of family, other scouts and friends to complete an area beautification project (painting and landscaping) at South Park Elementary School located at 8510 Towne Avenue, Los Angles, California 90003. This opportunity demonstrates Trent’s leadership of others while performing a project for the benefit of his community.
We congratulate Trent on his accomplishment with the Boy Scouts and wishes him continued success as he pursues his academic goals of becoming a dentist and his extracurricular schools as an Eagle Scout!