At 56, Beverly Reed has a new lease on life.
It all started with a workshop on drones that she took five years ago. Now, she’s hooked on aviation.
She is now not only a certified drone pilot, but she has her student pilot license and hopes to one day fly an airplane. Reed said she’s combining her passion for aviation and her passion for teaching – she’s worked as a teacher for over 30 years – to host a drone camp for kids in St. Charles Parish.
“I can teach drones all day, every day,” Reed said.
The camp, which is for kids ages 8 to 13, will be held at Edward A. Dufresne Community Center in Luling from July 28 to July 31. Reed will teach campers how to safely and confidently fly drones and the science and technology behind drone flight. The camp will provide hands-on challenges and obstacle courses and introduce campers to careers in aviation and engineering.
The camp is $250, which includes lunch and a snack by Daretta’s Catering, and runs each day from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. There are limited spots available because the camp will be capped at 15 students.
“As a kid, I didn’t have the opportunity to be exposed to aviation,” Reed said. “And now that I am, I want to share it with the community. It’s a big opportunity for kids to learn about this, even at a younger age. They don’t have to wait till they get to my age.”
Reed said she wonders where life would have taken her if she was exposed to aviation growing up. She wants to offer the camp to undeserved kids and is looking for sponsors to help send kids to the camp. Two campers have already received sponsors.
Civil Air Patrol will provide small rockets for the campers. Access Health Louisiana will provide back to school supplies for campers, and Home Drone will offer their services for the camp.
Reed said she hopes to share her knowledge with campers in a fun, interesting way.
“I want to bring this information to them in such a way where, you know, it’s almost like they never knew what hit them,” Reed said. “I will be teaching things of aviation, not just come in here and just fly a drone.”
Campers do not have to bring their own drone to the camp. Drones will be provided.
Reed, who owns Breed Drone Solutions in Metairie, said the more she learns about aviation, the more she learns to speak the language of pilots. It’s like joining a new club, she said. In that first drone workshop that she took years ago, there were few women. She wants to change the narrative, she said.
“The aviation field is really in need,” Reed said. “We want [the camp] to give kids an enlightenment. We want to give them an awareness about the world of aviation.”
Campers can register for the camp by emailing ican@breed.zone.
