This piece originally ran in the December 2024 issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine.
Christina LaVicka, EAA Lifetime 1547942, can’t quite pinpoint when she became an aviation enthusiast, but she knows it started with a “Did you know?” at an air show when she was younger. Like many of us, the satisfying noise of aircraft engines drew her in. “I’ve always been a fan of unique noises. From the startup sputtering sounds of a P-51 to the afterburner rumblings of an F-16,” she said.
“The more I learn, the more I realize I have a lot more to learn. But I practice what I teach: Be a curious lifetime learner,” she said. “By volunteering at AirVenture I get to meet and learn from the people who design, fix, and fly these magnificent birds.”
Just as someone lit the spark for her aviation enthusiasm, Christina is passionate about lighting that spark in others, especially young people. Professionally, Christina is a guest teacher “of all grades, subjects, and abilities” as well as a professional actress. She feels lucky to combine these two careers. “I am fortunate to be able to share my passion for volunteering, sometimes in entertaining ways, to keep my students’ attention,” she said. “Whether it’s sharing video highlights of past AirVentures or the Young Eagles program on our classroom screen, or seeing whose paper airplane can fly the farthest, ‘teachable moments’ are what I live for. No matter the grade level or content, for a few minutes each day I can usually steer a lesson (just a little right rudder) in the direction of aviation and why I volunteer.”
Christina started volunteering at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in 2012, helping in the arts and crafts tent and the Partner Resource Center, and was even offered a paid position. “But my heart is in volunteering,” she said. “If I were to have taken the paid position, I wouldn’t get to do what I love the most.”
“If I’m in one building all day, I’m not out talking to veterans,” she said. “My passion is meeting as many people as I can. I try to talk with everyone at AirVenture — especially the unassuming person with a glimmer in their eye, gazing up at the sky. Usually that’s where the real story is. Those are the people who become lifetime friends and feel like family in a short amount of time.”
“As any devoted volunteer knows, you always get so much more back when you donate your time. Whether it’s serving meals in your community during the year or finding an area at AirVenture that intrigues you, you meet people who will change your life for the better. But you can volunteer anywhere, anytime.”
For the past few years, Christina has taken her volunteering to the Young Eagles Mustang raffle booth at AirVenture to help sell tickets that support the youth program. “I’m challenging everyone to volunteer by spreading the news about the Young Eagles program. It could be at a grocery store, park, or just about anywhere. There is nothing like seeing a kid’s face light up when they find out they can … fly for free before they are 18. Sometimes all it starts with is, ‘Did you know?’”
Volunteers make EAA AirVenture Oshkosh — and just about everything else EAA does — possible. This space in EAA Sport Aviation is dedicated to thanking and shining the spotlight on volunteers from the community. Sadly, it cannot capture all of the thousands of volunteers who give so much to the community every year. So, next time you see a volunteer at AirVenture or elsewhere, however they are pitching in to make EAA better, be sure to thank them for it. It’s the least we can do. Do you know a volunteer you’d like to nominate for Volunteer Spotlight? Visit EAA.org/Submissions.