Posted by Gurdip (Honorary Member) Hari on Apr 14, 2017

At the April 13, 2017 meeting, members and guests heard  Isaiah Cooper,  with his power point presentation, talk about his cross country air plane pilot experiences last summer, when he was 16.

Before the speaker, Club President Ramon Rodriguez talked about the Annual Lynwood Easter Egg Hunt Event at Lynwood Park on Sat, 11am to 1:30 pm.  Lynwood Rotary has always been a major supporter of this event.  Ramon noted that he will attend at lunch time and encouraged all members to attend as a show of support for this fun annual event.  Also, he again mentioned the Rotary District breakfast, the last District breakfast for this year, Tue, Apr 18, 7:30am – 9am, at the usual hotel, the Westin Hotel on Olympic Blvd. near LAX . The speaker is from the faculty at UCLA, Dr. Dennis Hong, a robotics expert, who is known to be a dynamic speaker.  Ramon said that he cannot attend, but Daniel is planning to attend.  Also Ramon stated that the Annual District Assembly will be Sat, Jun 3, 7:30am to 11am, at the usual location, the Conference Center for the City of Carson.  If possible all members should plan to attend because of the very informative presentations about various Avenues of Service Rotary programs.  Also Ramon mentioned the Earth Day event to be held in front of City Hall on Sat, Apr 22, from 10 am to 2pm.

Ramon handed out a proposed letter to the City of Lynwood, requesting use of the Bateman Hall room for an evening meeting, the last Thursday of each month, thru Dec 2017.  The specific dates are listed.  Ramon asked for and received concurrence from all members present as to the dates shown.  Ramon stated that he believes and hopes this change will result in a 40 percent increase in membership.  If successful, Ramon stated that his intention would be to recommend to the club that starting in 2018, all the weekly meetings be evening meetings. 

The Speaker, Isaiah Cooper, is a student at Compton Unified School District, through the CUSD Thurgood Marshall Independent Study program.  Because of his interest in flying he is also associated with the Compton Woodley Airport, and the Aeronautical Museum on site.  There was a large turnout to hear about Isaiah's experiences, which as he explained, has captured the interest of many media persons. (His mother, Natalia Knox, was also in the audience.)

Isaiah, using a power point presentation, had photos of his plane at various airports for the total trip which took 13 days to fly to the east coast and back to California.  Airports and adjacent cities that Isaiah described include Cheyenne Wyoming, Detroit, La Guardia Airport, New York City, El Paso Texas, somewhere in Arizona and then home to the Compton Airport.  At El Paso, the plane had to turn back, due to high winds from a passing storm.

Club member Victor Gomez pointed out that the first photo of Isaiah's plane included on the plane's side the name of his company, Bulletin Displays.  Upon an inquiry from Daniel, Victor explained that a manager at the airport involved in funding Isaiah's trip, obtained the donation from his company, along with other donations.  In Cheyenne Wyoming, as shown in a photo, that plane was damaged due to high winds, and landed a mile from the airport.  Then a slightly larger plane, a Cessna 172, was obtained for the rest of the trip.At the Detroit landing, Isaiah described what a very favorable visit was for him.  It included about 50 kids cheering him   Here he recalled a little girl giving him a hug, and then they talked for, he said, two hours.  At a different location, there was a representative from the Tuskegee Airmen who talked with him. 

Isaiah then talked about funding needs.  Besides funding for his traveling as a pilot, he then addressed funding needs to support youth programs among the low income population.  A plan is necessary he said with remarks about “visiting successful people in such places as Beverly Hills”. He mentioned a woman who has counseled him about funding and interacting with youth, whose name is Sterling Berliant.  ( Side by Side: interacting with youth).  Apparently Isaiah's exposure to funding requests to the wealthy have led him to contemplate the importance of working with low income youth for their betterment, though it is not clear how this relates to his piloting goals.  He stated parents where he lives do not have the resources like those in Beverly Hills, but it is important “Keeping light where there is darkness,” and another quote: “we must find ways for kids to find substitutes for drugs and alcohol. “At the end of his presentation, a number of the members and guests talked personally with Isaiah, and exchanged contact information, to include one guest of note:  Jose Jaurigin, Student Services, LUSD.  Also, Irene Zapata, Teen Librarian for the Lynwood Library.   .

Daniel Miller / Omar Franco / Rowland Becerra  

Public Relations and Community Outreach for the Lynwood Rotary Club