Issue 6 Volume 2

RECORD

BY AND FOR THE YOUTH OF LOUISVILLE • SPRING/SUMMER 2022

UP IN THE AIR

TABLE OF

contents

On the Sidelines

New laws in Kentucky make it even harder for transgender athletes to compete.

Inverted Artistry

Circus communities within Louisville give aerial artists a sanctuary in which they redefine traditional movement.

All the Buzz

A young entrepreneur is stirring up a buzz in Louisville beekeeping.

Ascent

How students earn their wings in unique environments.

For all of us, there are inevitable times when we must take a leap of faith. They are moments when we have to release ourselves from the paths set before us and instead blaze a trail of our own, giving into the unknown. Yet, it is within the uncertainty that we can find something bigger than ourselves.

In On the Record’s second-ever themed issue, we explore the dichotomy between what remains up in the air — our careers, our artistry, our futures — and our roots — our culture, our city, our history. Therein lies the inspiration for the double-sided magazine you currently hold.

While some stories on this side fit the up in the air theme literally — the student pilots who reflect the future of aviation, Louisville youth finding confidence in aerial arts, and a local teen making a name for himself with beekeeping; others explore a more figurative meaning like the future of sports for trans youth in our state.

In this half of the issue, we take a look at “up in the air” in every form it takes. When you come to the end of this side, close and flip the magazine to read the remaining four stories.

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ON THE SIDELINES ON THE SIDELINES ON THE SIDELINES ON THE SIDELINES ON THE SIDELINES ON THE SIDELINES ON THE SIDELINES ON THE SIDELINES ON THE SIDELINES

Sunshine reflected off the turf, illuminating the bright green spikes of grass as beads of sweat rolled down the faces of several girls in athleisure wear. The field hockey season had officially begun after Fischer Wells, a 12-year-old girl at Westport Middle School, gathered enough teammates to create the field hockey team there. As she shifted from left foot to right, bringing the ball with her, Wells grinned to herself. This was her sport.

Unless it wasn’t. Later in the day, Wells slumped against her living room couch. It was almost time to get ready for her first game of the season. The sound of shuffling feet caused Wells to turn her head and see her parents’ frowning faces as they entered the room.

female. Wells was put on the sidelines, unable to compete due to a policy directed towards a recent issue that has arose in Kentucky, among other states: transgender people in sports.

Feeling unsatisfied with the sudden change in her participation, Wells and her parents took it upon themselves to figure out why.

“We went through the whole process of looking through the rules and found out they were using high school rules on middle schools and it caused me to miss my first game,” said Wells. If it weren’t for Wells’ determination to play, she could have missed an entire season simply because of an administrative mistake.

he was still presenting as a girl. Around sophomore year, Runner started to discover something new within himself when he gained a better understanding of what transgender was, finding himself resonating deeply with it. He transferred schools due to the toxic environment at his previous school, entering as self-transitioned, then later started testosterone and got top surgery his junior year. High on confidence, Runner decided to join the bowling team at his new high school, unaware that the Kentucky High School’s Athletic Association’s (KHSAA) policy would completely revoke his decision.

Writing by JAIA KATTAN • Design by ARI EASTMAN

“I was at home and my parents were all grim and dour and they were like ‘Fish, you can’t play anymore because your school administration said so,’” Wells said, explaining the moment she realized it was going to be a problem if she wanted to play sports as a transgender

While Wells especially stands out due to her outspokenness in regards to her gender identity, she is one of many transgender students who are restricted from their sports because of their gender identity.

Cat Runner was always an active kid. He played basketball and field hockey growing up, when

The KHSAA’s current policy attempts to recognize the participation of transgender athletes in sports but fails to allow the average transgender student to compete on the team corresponding with their gender identity due to their specific requirements. The policy states that each athlete must participate according to the gender listed on their birth certificate, unless they were legally reassigned,

Go the Distance

Cat Runner, 24, shows off the medal he recieved from running his first Spartan Race in 2017, at Robsion Park on April 16.

Photo by Bella Tilford

Playing sports as a transgender athlete is more difficult than what meets the eye

which can be shown through a birth certificate, drivers license, passport, or other certified medical record verified by the member school.

“You have to talk to the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, you have to have your athletic director behind you, you have to have the principal behind you, you have to have your parents behind you,” said the 23-year-old Runner.

He then acknowledged the hardest KHSAA requirement: undergoing sex reassignment surgery.

“It states that you have to have undergone sterilization. So for me, that means I’ve had to have a hysterectomy and an ovariectomy. And I would have had to undergo bottom surgery— both of which are things that are not performed on a minor (CC),” Runner said. “There’s no minor in the world who would be able to — if they were to follow the policy—achieve all the things that are required, so it’s also kind of setting this precedent that medical transition is required.”

When Runner had gained enough reassurance within

himself to feel comfortable joining a sport as a man, his confidence was quickly shut down as his coach called him over; Runner knew what was about to happen.

“I went to one practice and then the next morning I was pulled aside and told, ‘Look, you can’t play but there’s other things you could do. You can go to every practice on the boys team but you’re not allowed to compete on the boys team,’” said Runner.

Runner’s soul was crushed. The confidence that drove him to join the team aligning with his gender identity fell straight to the ground.

“At that point, I was still kind of early in my transition and was still so vulnerable in my identity that I was just like, I’m not going to do it,” Runner said.

The KHSAA policy no longer affects Runner since he is out of high school, nor Wells since she has yet to go into high school. This year, Kentucky’s legislature became one of many southern states to pass a bill making it harder—even impossible—for transgender athletes to play. One

bill, Kentucky Senate Bill 83, passed both houses of the legislature, was vetoed by Democratic Governor Andy Beshear, and the veto was subsequently overridden by the Republican legislature. CC Cited as the Save Women’s Sports Act, this new law, which is only targeted towards women, requires all schools sixth grade through college that participate in athletics to designate athletic teams, activities, and sports based on the biological sex of the student athlete (CC). This jeopardizes the participation of colleges and universities in organizations such as the National

Collegiate Athletic Association because this bill would violate their policies (CC).

“What’s dangerous about these bills is the fact that they’re even being considered. That they’re passing is setting an extremely dangerous precedent, and telling trans people that they cannot be out in society, they cannot be active participants in society. And that it’s unsafe for them,” said Runner. “These bills directly target trans women and girls. They’re an easy scapegoat. Because trans people in general are easy scapegoats.”

Ridding transgender kids of the opportunity to play in sports as themselves puts them in a position that makes them feel like they are different and therefore should be treated differently. Wells and Runner among other transgender athletes simply want to play sports, just as any other kid does. These policies and laws set a precedent that there is no room for transgender people in sports.

The KHSAA policy provided at least a sliver of hope to play on the team of one’s gender identity, even if it was difficult. However, the passage of Senate Bill 83 eliminated any chance of a transgender athlete playing on their team aligning with their identity. Now, athletes are unfairly barred from the field or court simply because of their identity.

“It’s disgusting, I’m ashamed that our government has fallen to this,” Wells said. Throughout the discovery of her gender identity along with the process of Senate Bill 83 passing, Wells has been actively fighting against it for the sake of herself and her peers.

Wells was legally unaffected by the KHSAA policy regarding her gender identity due to her age, despite a mistaken removal from her field hockey team at

Getting Low

Westport Middle School due to the administration incorrectly interpreting who the KHSAA policy affects. But the new bill forces her to stop playing field hockey altogether. Kentucky does not have boys’ field hockey — there are no alternatives for Wells.

“I would have to find another sport and I don’t want to do that, I enjoy field hockey,” said Wells, prior to the passing of the bill. “It brings out the goofy, unrestrained version of me where I don’t have to worry about school.” Wells feared that this version of herself would dwindle if she was forced out of her sport.

Robby Mills, Kentucky state Senator and one of the main bill sponsors on Senate Bill 83, (CC) argues that there is a biological

advantage that males have over females. Yet, when asked if there are any examples of issues concerning transgender athletes in Kentucky, he states he is unaware of any issues but, however, has heard concerns (CC). This law is clearly in search of a non-existent problem due to the disapproval of transgender athletes in sports from people like Mills. The unfairness of this law jeopardizes the mental health of trans kids who are no longer allowed to have the same opportunities as their peers.

Many people in support of the law point to Lia Thomas – the first openly transgender athlete to win America’s top trophy in university sports when she swam in the women’s 500 yard race (CC)

“These bills directly target trans women and girls. They’re an easy scapegoat. Because trans people in general are easy scapegoats.”

-Cat Runner

INFORMATION SOURCED FROM LGBTMAP.ORG

Ysa Leon, sophmore lacrosse player at Transylvania University, scoops up a ball at Pat Deacon Stadium on March 23.

Photo by Kaden Siler @silerphotography

– as an example of a transgender athlete dominating in a sport due to a physical advantage. But, they fail to mention any instances in elementary, middle, or high school sports where a transgender athlete is dominating and affecting the sport.

In recent events of the bill passing into law, Kentucky has joined a number of states that have passed similar laws. However, almost every one of these states, including Alabama, Montana, Oklahoma, and many

others (CC), were unable to find an instance in their state in which transgender athletes and their participation in sports has caused difficulty.

In response, Mills states his intentions are based on “forward thinking,” claiming that “Senate Bill 83 is thinking ahead (CC).”

“There’s always the argument that trans athletes are dominating sports, but they’re not,” said Runner. “We are all biologically diverse,” he continued, explaining that even

cisgender women can have “biological advantages” based on their testosterone levels or simply how their body is built.

Transgender athletes such as Wells and Runner are constantly faced with these obstacles. Athletes who aren’t on the gender binary are also being affected. Ysa Leon, a nonbinary college lacrosse player on Transylvania University’s women’s lacrosse team spoke out about how the effects of bills and policies like these affect more than what one might realize.

“It’s especially hard when you play a women’s sport because oftentimes, it’s very gender centric, like it’s ‘go girls,’ ‘come on, ladies,’ it’s a very female empowering environment, which can be great,” said Leon. “Except, that’s not how I identify. So it can actually lower my performance.”

In response to the very gender-focused environment seen in women’s sports, Leon started Transy’s first LGBTQ athlete organization, One Team. Meeting once a month, One Team strives to build an environment at Transy that is supportive of queer athletes.

“Certain circumstances would come up that I was like, ‘I feel like there should be a space where we should talk about this,’”

said Leon. “So we’ve made a lot of progress. So far, we now have pronouns that are mandatory in player bios, and we’re slowly moving into a pronoun requirement in the recruiting questionnaire for all teams.”

Despite these achievements, the laws and policies that set bans on who is allowed to play are not dismissed. While the KHSAA policy currently only affects high schools, they are trying to make it applicable to colleges, likewise to Senate Bill 83. This would not only prevent younger and more vulnerable students from competing, but college-age students, too, who could potentially be well into their transition. Banning these older students, regardless of how far they are into their transition, is an extreme violation of trans rights and backsteps the progress that the community has made.

“It’s really scary. It sets a precedent that trans kids are not welcome in sports,” Leon said, also considering the argument that transgender women are just men trying to get into women’s spaces so they can cheat their way to success.

“I think it’s just kind of ridiculous to think that someone would want to transition just to play a sport. Because the toll that transition takes on you mentally, physically, and spiritually, is beyond any academic award, or not academic athletic award,” said Leon.

Leon continues to speak out and stay active within the LGBTQ community through One Team and through their own platforms, such as social media. Trans people have constantly had to face laws and policies that restrict them from playing, and now that Senate Bill 83 a law, it will bypass the KHSAA policy with its stricter ban.

“This is a lot bigger than sports. Obviously, sports are a

huge part of my life. And I love playing lacrosse, that’s my safe space. But the threat to trans lives is so much bigger than sports,” said Leon.

Like Leon, Runner has grown to find his safe space: bouldering. Runner’s gained interest in individually-driven sports such as running and bouldering (CC) has allowed him to thrive without the worry of being judged and critiqued.

“Through a lot of high school, I was just functioning, I was existing in space. Things were happening to me, but I wasn’t really interacting with life. I didn’t have those outlets. And then now as an adult, and finding climbing, I have a different love and a different passion for life,” said Runner.

Nonetheless, it is difficult for Runner to feel appreciated as an athlete when all people see is his transness rather than an athlete who worked hard for his achievements. Runner expressed how when one chooses to transition, it is hard for others to see them as something other than just trans.

“You don’t get the opportunity to explore the world through movement as a young person,” said Runner, “You don’t get the opportunity to learn about teamwork, leadership, build a community, build friends, because you have chosen to transition, because you are openly identifying as this thing. And it’s like. it’s really hard.”

While this is a setback in society, it’s not a total failure. Wells, Runner, and Leon are amongst others filled with determination, fighting for their rights.

“There’s no easy solution to make sports fully inclusive, because someone will always be left out or stuck in the middle,” said Runner. “And I think we’re far away from a truly inclusive sports movement because we are

still very cemented in the gender binary. It’s what our society is built on.”

Continuing to speak out against these laws and policies will have the impact that is needed. The difficult part is staying consistent and not giving up.

“If enough people get outraged enough about it, then things will change,” said Runner when asked how people can contribute to the opposal of laws against transgender athletes playing in sports.

Despite the struggle felt in the trans community, Wells continues to stay positive and confident in her identity.

“You know, it doesn’t really affect it,” Wells said when asked how her transition has affected her everyday life. “My school is great, my family is great, and I’m really happy with how I look.”

Some see Wells and all they notice is her transness. They notice her hair length. Her body. Her uniformed skirt. What they fail to make out is her as a person, a human being. Yes, Wells is an athlete who is transgender. No, that is not all she is.

Wells is regularly criticized for playing on the team aligning with her gender identity and while that will quickly change as she enters high school due to the new law, Wells continues to live a normal life. After all, she is simply just another 12-year-old kid. •

“It’s really scary. It sets a precedent that trans kids are not welcome in sports”

-Ysa Leon

“It’s disgusting, I’m ashamed that our government has fallen to this.”

-Fischer Wells

Championship Winnings

Ysa Leon, sophmore lacrosse player at Transylvania University, celebrates their team’s HCAC 2022 Conference Championship win with their mom, April Stoner, at Pat Deacon Stadium on May 7. Photo by Mia Leon

Louisville aerial artists dare to live on the edge, discovering their own unique form of movement, community, and self-identity – all with their feet off the ground. At Suspend Studio in Louisville, anyone can take classes in silks and aerial arts, which is beneficial for both physical and mental health. Louisville’s Turners Circus offers a place for aerial artists to perform for audiences from Kentucky and beyond.

writing by BELLA TILFORD • design by LIN TRAN

Inverted - Leigha Miller warms up their skills on the lyra in Suspend Studio’s advanced aerial dance class on March 6. Photo by Bella Tilford.

Dynamic Duo - Ella Price, 16, directs her mother, Emily Price, on proper foot placement for a silks trick at Turner’s Circus on April 10. Ella and her mother have been performing together for six years, along with her four other siblings and father. Photo by Mya Cummins.

“Performing aerial arts with my mom has positively impacted me in so many ways. If we see something that we know the other person could fix, to make their performance look more graceful or feel easier, we will let each other know.”

- Ella Price, 16

Headfirst - Ella Price, 16, shows off her flexibility on silks at Turner’s Circus on April 10. Photo by Mya Cummins.

“I feel privileged –every day I get to witness the bravery and accomplishments of every student. I firmly believe that circus is an activity for everybody who wants to participate, and my favorite aspect of teaching is helping individuals find efficient, sustainable, and joyful movement.”

- Anne Miller

Solo Movement - Anna Murray performs a self-choreographed series of movements, called a phrase, at Suspend Studio on March 6. Photo by Bella Tilford.

Help Needed - Anne Miller, founder of and instructor at Suspend Studio, helps Anna Murray perfect her dolphin roll in her advanced aerial dance class on March 6. Photo by Bella Tilford.

- Rebecca Petersen

“Circus at Suspend has given me a way to express myself artistically, challenge my body limits physically, and provided me a wonderful community of people. That combination has created a safe place for me to grow both as a person and a circus artist.”

Hanging Out - Rebecca Petersen listens to advice from Anne Miller on how to improve her lyra phrase at Suspend’s advanced aerial dance class on March 6. Photo by Bella Tilford.

Her Own Flair - Rebecca Petersen displays her artistry and flexibility during her lyra warm-up at Suspend Studio’s advanced aerial dance class on March 6. Photo by Bella Tilford.

Queen Bee - On May 3, Keith Griffith III, 15, inspects a bustling wax comb during a hive installation at a farming ground in Middletown. He looked for a queen, as finding and isolating the queen is a crucial part of putting new bees in a hive. Photo by Jackson Barnes.

Meet Keith Griffith III, the inspirational young mind behind a local beekeeping business.

writing by SAM WATKINS • design by ELLA DYE

What’s the buzz?

Well, when someone takes off with their passion and uses it to transform their life into something extraordinary, it’s bound to draw attention.

It starts out quiet at first, with simple ingredients and simple beginnings. For Keith Griffith III, a young beekeeper living in the West End of Louisville, it all started back when his uncle introduced him to beekeeping as a hobby when Griffith was just 11 years old. As Griffith was about to leave for basketball practice, his uncle asked for help installing a new hive. In his first encounter with the bees, he only had his uncle’s borrowed bee jacket to wear as protection, since his uncle typically used that jacket and operated his own hives all while paralyzed from the waist down.

“I wasn’t safe at all. I mean, I was pretty safe from the waist up,” Griffith said.

Before long, Griffith was assisting his uncle in running the hives and looking to acquire some hives of his own. From there, Griffith fell in love with beekeeping and

wanted to turn it into something more. In 2019, he founded his company, Beeing2gether. He started off small, doing business with friends and family before growing into inperson orders. But a little bit of attention brought from the local press blossomed Beeing2gether into much more.

“Literally one message changed how our business was run,” Griffith said. After being contacted for an interview with WHAS11 in 2020, the company gathered enough buzz from the community that they were able to expand and ship their honey and other bee products across the Louisville community. Their first run was so successful that they had to go on break temporarily. The business continued to grow from there, building their line of products, gaining acclaim from local media and fans, and even renting out hives and helping others make honey in their own backyards.

Fast forward to today, Griffith is a 15-year-old beekeeper, entrepreneur, and author in Louisville. Griffith mainly works on his

business in the spring and summer, bouncing between different hives owned by friends, family, and rentiers. He’s mastered multiple tools of the trade, such as burlap smokers for calming bees during intensive operations and a hive tool, or scraper, used to remove excess wax as well as to separate, remove, and lift the frames of a hive. He is consistently calm and laidback in the eye of a buzzing storm, a bee whisperer consistently aiding in both hive installations and honey extractions for everyone from hobbyist beekeepers, gardeners, and full-time farmers all across the greater Louisville area.

Of course, he’s been noticed for all of this hard work. He has won a multitude of national awards, including the first-place Bayer Blue Ribbon Beekeeper Award in 2020, two 2021 Kurt Giessler Foundation Grants for Ambition and Achievement, as well as a full ride to Trinity High School from an anonymous donor. Although both his parents have been incarcerated, his family has been an extremely supportive and integral part of Griffith creating and managing his young business.

Now, Beeing2gether’s honey is sold at multiple Rainbow Blossoms, Blue Dog Bakery, Black Soil market in Lexington, and most recently in some local ValuMarket locations, in addition to multiple local farmers’ markets. Griffith’s book, “Honey Bees & Beekeeping: A Mental Health Miracle,” is about sharing his experience with beekeeping as a hobby and a burgeoning business, and explaining the basic steps and vocabulary of beekeeping. He aims to break down the barrier around mental health by discussing how important healthy hobbies are for keeping your brain healthy too. While Griffith enjoys spending time with the

with harvesting, it’ll take between about seven to eight hours,” said Stephanie Dukes, Griffith’s mother.

All of this hard work has drawn the attention of his peers at school, too, beyond the aforementioned accolades.

“There’s one dude, sometimes at lunch he’ll walk up to me and give me a fist bump — ‘I’m like your number one customer here, I’ve bought the most honey.’ I’ve got like two teachers that have bought it already too, and my P.E. coach wants to get some,” Griffith said.

Even beyond the classroom and his neighborhood, Griffith is making an impact on communities and environments all across Louisville. For example, Christopher Manzo is an architect and educator living off of Frankfort Avenue in Louisville who rents a hive from Griffith and his Beeing2gether company.

multiple apiaries he has around Louisville, he also loves to play video games, as well as football and basketball, with aspirations to be a mainstay on both Trinity teams. This means that since his weekdays are occupied by full days of high school, long practices, along with strength and conditioning, his time for beekeeping and hive maintenance outside of peak summer months is largely reserved for the weekends.

“In a week, I would say he probably spends about three hours beekeeping without harvesting. But

“Last year, I had a buddy of mine, another architect, and he had bees, and that felt like a really great thing to pair up with the gardening I was already doing. My wife had seen a Facebook post about Keith and his project, so I just messaged them and said, ‘Hey, I’m thinking about getting some bees, what do you all know and what can you do?’ and they said, ‘We’ll get you all set up,’” Manzo said.

Manzo’s hive is constructed in the same way as the many hives that Griffith keeps at his multiple locations; Griffith currently maintains about

10 different hives in the backyards and homes of his friends and family, such as his grandmother and great-grandmother’s house. There’s the bottom board, which provides the entrance and exit for all the bees in the beginning section of the hive. Then, there’s the hive body or the deep super. This box sits above the bottom board and serves as the living quarters for the bee colony, and the frames or sections within this part of the hive are filled with tiny bee eggs, in addition to the first foundational layers of honeycomb and pollen. Lastly, the most crucial parts of the hive for the extraction process are the aptly named honey supers. These are smaller boxes and collections of frames that the hive expands into once it is healthy and well-built, where the excess honey can be easily harvested and sent off to Manzo’s family and friends, as well as in Griffith’s case, Beeing2gether’s customers.

After Manzo’s first year with the hive that he rented from Beeing2gether, he was able to extract over five pounds of honey from only two frames. This upcoming year, Manzo expects to get much more than that amount, and thus much more than he’d be able to eat, plenty to send off to friends and family as hit holiday gifts as he did with last harvest, or even to potentially sell at farmers’ markets that Griffith already has connections to.

But Manzo isn’t just harvesting honey.

It really is a good mental health break from the workaday world. ”

-Christopher Manzo

“

Honeybees are also an important pollinator for not just ecosystems all across the United States, but our local neighborhoods where hobbyist beekeepers often operate.

“They have up to a two mile radius I believe, where they harvest from and where they pollinate, so I think of it as a neighborhood thing,” Manzo said. “We’ve got a children’s home over here a couple blocks away with a huge field of clover, we have hawks and foxes and all sorts of wildlife.”

Manzo himself uses the bees to help pollinate and foster a diverse environment of crops in his backyard, growing a variety of herbs, vegetables, and greens for himself, and inspiring healthy eating for his entire family, all with the added plus of staying in touch with nature.

“It’s really turned into a sanity thing too, getting out here and messing around in the garden. It really is a good mental health break from the workaday world. You know, developing a respect for the bees, and nurturing them, and letting them nurture us back with their honey and their presence,” Manzo said.

Of course, there are many challenges to running such a beekeeping business. The first one you might think of, obviously, is avoiding stings.

“It doesn’t happen a lot. But I’ve been stung seven times through my gloves in one beekeeping session,” Griffith said.

“Typically, with getting stung, it’s because we went back again and we shouldn’t have done that. We were just trying to get the job done. Typically, when you go into a hive, you don’t want to upset them too many times in a day,” Dukes added.

The Hive Abuzz - Bees cluster near the top of a newly installed hive on May 3. Bees were transported via wax grid sheets, which were slotted into the hive boxes. Photo by Jackson Barnes.

Off the Job - Beekeeping is often very relaxed, but there are safety precautions that have to be taken, the bee suit being a very important one. On May 3, after going through the process of installing the hives, Griffith removed his protective gear. Photo by Jackson Barnes.

inside the hive

From a beginner’s setup to the pros, nearly all bee boxes have a similar structure that gives room for both the queen and colony to live, as well as for the honeycomb to be built and harvested.

outer cover

Additionally, as Griffith explained in detail, honeybees have a multitude of predators and parasites that constantly threaten to take over hives if they aren’t properly maintained, especially in the winter.

“Varroa mites can start a virus inside the hive. They can fall off a bee and into the cells where a queen will lay an egg, and it can make that newborn get sick, die, and go throughout the hive,” Griffith said.

hosts their store as well as their blog with updates on the company and Griffith’s beekeeping career. Presently, they sell raw honey, handmade soap, lip balm, Griffith’s book, and other merchandise, and their product line expands each season. Additionally, their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts are all good places to follow for updates on Griffith and his company.

frame

honey box

deep hive body bottom board

inner cover wax combs

Wax moths are another pest identified by Griffith and other beekeepers as problematic to honeybee hives, feeding off of beeswax and bee remains and potentially taking over weaker hives.

“When you lose a hive, it slows down the process of producing more honey and it makes stuff harder. You learn from the mistakes,” Griffith explained.

Another challenge to running his business is keeping up with increasing demand, while helping manage the company’s social media and maintain its momentum. Dukes helps him manage this social media presence as well as much of the day-to-day logistics of running a business.

“Social media is definitely a big influence on a business. With ours, he started out so young, so he wasn’t really good with Facebook and Instagram. I had to start his business up on Instagram,” Dukes said. “Then he just made mental health posts, bee facts, and stuff like that. And shoot, it went bonkers, you know?”

There are many ways and many reasons to support local beekeepers and other local youthled businesses like Beeing2gether. Their website, beeing2gether.com,

While the science is somewhat conflicting, buying local honey with its trace amounts of local pollen is also commonly considered an effective way to reduce the symptoms of mild seasonal allergies. According to Griffith, his own teachers at school who were purchasing his honey products not only reported that it helped their allergies, but Griffith stated that he used to take a teaspoon of honey every night for the same purpose as well. All of these benefits work in conjunction with supporting local environments, pollinators, and youth entrepreneurs when buying from a local student business like Beeing2gether.

Griffith’s future remains up in the air, but both he and his mother are confident that Griffith and his company will continue to grow their aspirations together. Dukes plans to have her son go to college for two years for Business Administration. Griffith isn’t sure that he will follow that track, but mainly stresses that no matter what, he aspires to continue his Beeing2gether company for the benefit of both his community and his family far beyond high school. After all, that’s what beeing together is all about.

•

writing by NORAH CROTHERS • design by SILAS MAYS

The hum from the airplane engine buzzed in Charlotte McCarthy’s ears as her instructor sat beside her in the passenger seat. The Cessna 150, which Flight Club 502 students had affectionately nicknamed Big Bird, had been McCarthy’s second home in the recent weeks of constant practice. Since the beginning of her training, McCarthy, 16 at the time, knew she would have to practice recovery in flight, a crucial part of learning to pilot an aircraft. With wind speeds safe and visibility high, it was a perfect day for a specific flight recovery practice: simulated stalls, one of the highest tests of composure and positive control.

As she initiated a stall and the air rolling over Big Bird’s wings suddenly stopped, McCarthy felt the nose of the plane tip downward, and her view of the clouds was replaced by the city below her. The plane began plummeting toward the ground, and the humming engine became drowned out by the hurtling winds. Wings caught in the

momentum, both student and instructor felt the plane begin to over-rotate, and McCarthy couldn’t break from the whirlwind surrounding them. The stall had gone haywire, leaving both passengers in grave danger, suspended thousands of feet in the air.

They spun faster and faster toward the ground, but McCarthy’s greatest priority was staying calm. Positive control needed to be maintained even in the most stressful situations. Her instructor immediately reached over, firmly reassuring McCarthy while handling the instrument panel expertly. As she managed to pull the plane out of the spin, hundreds of feet lower than they had been and closer to the ground than she would have liked, McCarthy recovered. Hands slightly trembling, she brought the plane down to the ground, where she remained on edge.

McCarthy, an 18-year-old senior at Sacred Heart Academy, had often heard people she knew talk about avoiding small planes, and had invited friends only for

Student pilots in Louisville are learning to fly before they can drive. This is how they’re soaring toward their futures.

them to decline to fly with her. Unlike them, flying never struck her as something so terrifying or dangerous, especially after being raised in a family full of pilots. She had never really understood why until she had gotten so close to making a fatal mistake.

“I could have just killed myself and my instructor,” McCarthy said. “Now I understand why people are so scared to go in … a tiny tin can, basically. I mean, it’s nothing.”

Nothing like flying had ever brought her so close to danger, yet it had only made her confidence grow stronger, both in herself and in her abilities.

For those living in Louisville, it isn’t uncommon to hear

airplanes flying overhead. Because of the UPS world hub and regional airports, the constant air traffic through our skies is hard to ignore. Buzzing helicopters, roaring passenger planes, and the occasional jet for special events, such as Thunder Over Louisville, often turn our heads upward throughout the day.

Sitting in classrooms, walking on sidewalks, or laying in our beds, we may sometimes wonder who’s sitting in the seats 35,000 feet above our heads, and who’s up there flying. Not many people would guess that it could be a student barely old enough to get their driver’s license. Next time we look up, it might be a 16 or 17-year-old soaring through

the skies above us, thanks to the increased number of flight schools in Louisville.

Flight Club 502 is one of those schools. It is one of many whose offices are part of Bowman Field, a regional airport in Louisville. However, unlike the schools that surround it, Flight Club is unique in an unexpected way — it’s almost entirely student-run. The president of Flight Club, despite what many people might assume, is a senior attending Sacred Heart Academy. The finance and outreach managers, as well as the copresidents, are all high school students working together to organize their flight education and reach for future goals.

Pilot’s Seat - At Bowman Field, Charlotte McCarthy, 18, glances back to explain the controls of “Brown Bear,” one of Flight Club’s Cessna 150 planes, on March 14. Photo by Mya Cummins.

Analyzing the Aircraft

The propellor produces energy for the plane to fly

The horizontal stabilizer keeps the plane flying straight

The ailerons control the plane’s turning

The wheels are used to take off and land

The vertical stabilizer keeps the nose of the plane steady

The elevator makes the nose go up or down

The pilots move the rudder to change the position of the nose on the plane

The flaps can change the stall speed of the airplane

The wings keep the plane in the air

“All the directors are seniors, and one or two are juniors. And that’s just because we’re trying to build resumes,” McCarthy, the president, said. The flight school is almost entirely run by students from schools across Louisville, working only with a few adults to run the club.

Flight Club does not have a very long history — it was only founded recently, in 2015, by eight high-school-age girls who wanted a ground school class, where they could learn the basics of flying and aerodynamics.

Charlotte McCarthy’s sister, Eloise McCarthy, was one of those young women. They turned to their moms, who knew a woman named Laura Jones, an aerospace professional, and founded the school together.

Women in aviation have always been hard to come by, but especially in 2015, when less

than half of the number of female student pilots were learning than today. In 2021, only about 6% of licensed pilots were women. Representation for women in aviation is scarce among leadership and technical roles as well, with the Center for Aviation reporting 15 female airline CEOs or directors throughout the world in 2010. Only one of them headed an airline in North America. However, the number of female student flyers makes up the largest majority of female pilots in any section of aviation, and has been growing since the early 2010s. With numbers of girls learning to fly on the rise, McCarthy is very aware of her significance within Flight Club and the aviation world.

“Less than 10% of pilots are women, which is just insane to me. And especially at our age,” McCarthy said, “there are not a

“Less than ten percent of pilots are women, which is just insane to me.”

– Charlotte McCarthy, 18

Knobs, Dials, and Switches - Outside of the Central American Airways hangar on March 14, Charlotte McCarthy, 18, sits in the pilot’s seat, fiddling with a Cessna 150 plane dashboard. Photo by Mya Cummins.

”

– Lillie Roberts, 16

lot of teenage pilots, obviously, but there’s probably even fewer teenagers that are girls that have their license.”

The establishment of Flight Club 502 is a very direct representation of women looking to earn their license increasing within Louisville. Ever since McCarthy’s sister and seven others started a small charge to create flight opportunities for women in our city, Flight Club has seen its number of female students grow much larger from its humble beginnings. Compared to McCarthy, who is already a licensed pilot, Brooks Barnum, a 16-year-old sophomore at Sacred Heart Academy, is just joining ground school.

“Actually, Miss Jones is my neighbor. So everyone on my street… all the kids have joined Flight Club. She encouraged me to come to meetings. I was like, alright, I’ll come. I came and I just really loved it here,” Barnum said. “To see STEM within a new context that interested me… just kept me coming.”

McCarthy and Barnum, despite being at opposite ends of the license process, have both seen Flight Club play major roles in their lives. Both women have been surprised by the enjoyment they found through learning to fly. In fact, McCarthy joined out of boredom, chronically absent from activities to do over the COVID-19 lockdown. She was uninterested in lacrosse and looking for a new hobby. But she didn’t expect a

simple text to a family friend — “Can I have a flight lesson?” — to introduce some of the most remarkable parts of her life.

“I didn’t think that I’d really fall in love with it the way I did,” McCarthy described.

Within Flight Club, people like McCarthy and Barnum, who are both interested in careers outside of aviation, get their license for the experience instead of future goals. But there are also people who plan to fly for the rest of their lives, after falling in love with it.

Lillie Roberts, a 16-year-old sophomore at Assumption High School and current Flight Club student, is one of them. She has been training to get her pilot’s license for two years. She saw her life change because of flying, something she hadn’t ever seen coming. Just like Barnum, she is one of many female Flight Club members who have joined in the past few years.

“If you think about it, it’s kind of a butterfly effect type thing,” Roberts described.

Her journey took off when she met two Space Camp hopefuls in a hotel pool on family vacation. At first, her brother, Grayson, was more interested than she was. With aspirations of becoming an Air Force pilot, he immediately took to flying. He joined the Civil Air Patrol, getting a chance at being Air Force before turning 18, as she watched from afar, cheering him on separately.

However, after seeing her brother always reach for the sky, Roberts, with encouragement from her father, went to Flight Club for her first lesson with less than high expectations. But quickly she found herself drawn to the freedom and community that flight school provided her. From attending a space camp in Huntsville, Alabama as a young child, her life was transformed. For her, because of Flight Club and because of her family, flying is more than just an activity done for enjoyment — it’s a life plan and a big part of her growth. For her, Flight Club was lifesaving.

“I’ve always described it as therapy, I think, because you quite literally leave all your problems on the ground,” Roberts said. “And since the only thing you’re worrying about is the plane and flying the plane.”

Through flying, these students haven’t just learned a unique skill. They learn confidence. Not only that of controlling a plane four times larger than themselves, but confidence that translates into social life and maturity. By interacting with students from other schools, professionals and trainers, and even Air Traffic Controllers while flying, they gain a steadiness that carries throughout their day-to-day interactions and choices.

“I used to be such a timid person. I was so afraid to ask someone, ‘Hey, will you let me do this?’” Roberts said. “And I think in aviation, everyone has the

“I’ve always described it as therapy, I think. Because you quite literally leave all your problems on the ground.”

whole mindset of like, the worst thing someone can say is no... that’s the worst that can happen. Now I will go out of my way to be like, ‘Hey, can we go do this?’ And they’re like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it!’ I think that has changed my life.”

Unlike many young people, flight school students have opportunities far beyond just flying because of a sense of leadership and direction that many others are struggling to find during their teenage years.

Charlie Klap, a 16-year-old sophomore at Walden School close to getting his license, has been training with Flight Club 502 since 2018. He is another member planning on going forward into adulthood with a flight career, like Roberts. As a child, Klap heard about the long trips his father would go on for work. As a UPS pilot, Sacha Klap was a major part of inspiring his son. As Klap’s awe turned into curiosity, and his future became clear, he joined

Flight Club to help develop his dream. He would get his license first, and become a professional pilot as a career. His objective? To join his father.

“UPS is the end goal. I eventually want to fly with my dad,” Klap said.

Klap represents the hard work and planning that goes into flying at such a young age. Planning a path to get to UPS requires a variety of experience and dedication from the very beginning, and earning your pilot’s license is only the first step in a long journey.

“Generally, flying is a really big process. I want to get my private pilot’s license, and then you have to get all these ratings, so then I want to get my instrument,” he said. With so many steps to go through in order to be qualified for air careers, these students must be hardworking from the start.

. . .

There are over 900 flight schools across the country, but mainly for adults. Flight Club 502 provides an opportunity for students to get the private pilot’s license (PPL), allowing them to fly an aircraft legally. However, while it is an incredible offer to young adults, and has helped those like Roberts and McCarthy find important people and experiences, flying is still very exclusive because of the cost. On average, earning a PPL costs $10,000. In more expensive cases, it can go up to $16,000. Furthermore, aviation is overwhelmingly white, standing at more than 85% since 2010.

Because of this, flight school becomes hard to afford, let alone have access to, for many lower income families and minorities.

“No one in my family has gone on to be a commercial pilot with Delta, or UPS, or anything. It’s always just been a nice, expensive hobby,” McCarthy said.

Brown Bear - Outside of Flight Club 502’s offices, Brooks Barnum, 16, and Charlotte McCarthy, 18, show Norah Crothers, 17, “Brown Bear,” a Cessna 150 plane, on March 14. The organization owned many of their planes, purchasing them through donations and fundraising. However, “Brown Bear” is one that they leased. Photo by Mya Cummins.

Fortunately, Flight Club, due to its management by mainly students and volunteering adults, is more affordable than many other flight schools, with lower annual dues and only a $35 fee for each hour of flight. But because of the preparation needed for solo flights and other tests toward a PPL, the costs can add up.

“When I was getting ready to solo for the first time, I was flying three to four times a week,” Klap said.

Practicing is a huge part of being able to pass and earn the license. With 3-4 flights every week for an hour or more, a small fee like $35 can rack up and create disparities between people who can and can’t afford it when preparing for a final flight test. A discussion of fairness for aspiring pilots leads to one glaring question: how do you offer an expensive class to people who can’t afford it?

The Academy at Shawnee has answered that question. They teach students how to pilot an aircraft — completely free.

Shawnee is a magnet school in west Louisville. Unlike many magnet schools, Shawnee focuses on career planning and giving students opportunities outside of the academic world early on. Specifically, it is the only school in JCPS that has an aviation magnet program — and the only in the nation to have a FAR Part 141 Private Pilot course, a class that involves students with real planes, flight practice, and abides by the Federal Aviation Administration, a section of the U.S. Department of Transportation. In the AIM Academy magnet, sophomore year students can take ground classes, and by the time they’re a junior, they can start in an actual plane. This level of learning is usually only available for university students, and Shawnee sets students, some of which

would not be able to attend university otherwise, on a path toward steady career options. And Shawnee students never have to worry about affording the classes.

Both Shawnee and Flight Club 502 are unique, both for their youth opportunities, and Shawnee for the financial freedom it gives its students. Having programs that allow for learning at an early age and stability in career choice opens up the future for many teenagers.

. . .

Klap, Roberts, Barnum, and McCarthy are all at different

stages of receiving their pilot licenses. But through the opportunities Flight Club has made for them and the ones they have made for themselves, they are connected by a love for flying and all its different forms. And despite the dangers, they persevere, dedicated to earning their wings. Every student in Flight Club, and in AIM Academy, has a story — why they joined, how they’re reaching toward their goals, and how flying has changed their lives.

“Just go for it,” Klap said. “If you’re interested in it, just try it.”

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Trials and Tribulations - Charlotte McCarthy, 18, stands in one of Bowman Field’s hangars on March 14. She explained to Norah Crothers, 17, the challenges she faced earning her private pilot’s license. Photo by Mya Cummins.