Teens With a Story to Tell Can Earn $500 and a Mentor in STEM Next's 2027 Flight Crew

STEM Next has opened the application window for its 2027 Flight Crew, the youth ambassador program that takes applicants between the ages of 13 and 18. The pitch to a teenager is straightforward: tell the program about your own education, and in return you get a mentor, a seat in a leadership program, and a $500 stipend. For an owner with a kid of that age already riding right seat on the family's Part 91 trips, this is the kind of structured program worth passing along across the dinner table. The stipend is modest, but the mentorship and the line on a résumé are the real currency here.

With reporting from Flying.