Poe held the Elevate Your Life essay contest this air show season, which gives sixth to eighth graders across the nation the chance to fly with Poe in his Fagen ethanol-powered MX-2 monoplane.
Elevate Your Life is a youth outreach program in which Poe gives motivational speeches to schools. It is a program of the Ryan J. Poe Foundation, created in 2007 after Poe lost his son Ryan to heroin addiction in August 2002.
Poe has spoken to thousands of children about his success story as a teenage pilot coming from Idaho to being a world-renowned air show performer. He stresses the hard work and never-say-die approach he took to following his dream.
“Our program is designed to help kids reach their dreams and see the potential in themselves, and hopefully that awakened drive and passion helps keep them away from drugs and other bad influence that can wreck their futures,” Poe said in a press release.
Elevate Your Life typically has been done during the school year when Poe would talk at individual schools. This is the first time it has been incorporated through an air show’s Web site, according to Greg Gibson, executive director of the Ryan J. Poe Foundation.
“It’s the first step in creating a year-round, nationwide program,” Gibson said.
There will be four winners at the Dayton air show, two boys and two girls. The first-place finishers will get to ride with Poe, while those in second place will ride with Gibson in the chase plane. According to Gibson, the planes fly in very close formation.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-0743 or nwaggenspack@coxohio.com.
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