Achievements

EDUCATING THE FUTURE

The Pajaro Valley Aviation Academy (PVAA) was established in 2000 to help local youth pursue careers in aviation by providing scholarships for education in the aviation field, ranging from aircraft maintenance to pilot training. We are not a flight school, but assist interested youth in achieving their aviation goals. 

The Pajaro Valley Aviation Academy is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization located at the Watsonville Municipal Airport. All donations to the academy are fully tax deductible. The board of directors represent various aviation organizations in the Pajaro Valley, as well as members from the community-at-large. Since its inception in 2000, The PVAA has provided more than $160,000 in scholarships from Private Pilot training to an Airline Transport Pilot certificate.  Many of the recipients have become professional aviation pilots and mechanics. Approximately $135,000 of the scholarship money has been returned to the community through training at the Watsonville Airport.

The Pajaro Valley Aviation Academy awarded four scholarships for 2022. Brooke Beetham, Ben Gomez-Villafane, Drew Dudek, and Zoe Freilich all received their private pilot certificate with excellent reviews from their instructors. All recipients plan on continuing their training towards additional ratings. These scholarships were all made possible from a generous contributor, investment earnings, and many additional donations from the local community. The PVAA assists local Santa Cruz County residents aged 16-26 achieve their aviation goals and dreams for pilot certificates ranging from private to ATP along with aviation maintenance such as Airframe and Power Plant. All scholarship proceeds are dispersed to local Watsonville Municipal Airport flight schools, thus reinvesting into our local aviation community.