Above the Clouds Inc.

In the Dream Flyer program we strive to bring joy into the lives of children whose lives have been challenged by adversities like serious, chronic illness or disabilities.  We have been informed by families that the Dream Flight experience has had a lasting, positive impact on the lives of our Dream Flyers.  In the Cadet Flyer program, our aim is to provide a motivational tool (learning to fly) as a conduit to encourage at risk teens to apply themselves, stay in school, achieve, and follow a path toward a better future.  In the Discovery Flyers Program, teens fly with pilot mentors regularly. The goals of this program are identical to those of the Cadet Flyers Program.

In the Dream Flyer program, we measure our success by having follow up discussions with each family after Dream Flight Day.  In our Cadet Flyers and Discovery Flyers Programs, progress is monitored by maintaining ongoing conversations with school guidance counselors, teachers and social workers. An Impact Study (survey that measures level of developmental assets) is currently being conducted.

An overhaul of the Cadet program is essential. We will shift from a ground based flight school to a parter organization that focuses on all of the aviation related STEM fields for teens and young adults. Scholarships and support will be provided to Cadets to pursue careers in aviation; including becoming a pilot or CFI, aerial photography, engineering, mechanics, airport management, aeronautics, etc..

Presently Above the Clouds has ten full- time employees. Executive Director, Susan Tufts Kagan, has more than 20 years experience in working with youth at risk and teens of all abilities. Program Coordinators are in the process of being created, so that the ED can focus on strategic initiatives like the Cadet program. Partnerships must be built and an analysis of the efficiencies of ATC programs has begun. Founders Gary and Martha Oberstein built a fantastic organization with many ambassadors and a strong mission. Now, the organization has set in place a structure in which the organization can grow under experienced non-profit leadership.

For nearly ten years Above the Clouds has used aviation as a tool to provide joy, hope, and inspiration to children facing adversity. We have touched the lives of more than 1,000 Flyers and their families. COVID presented new challenges in 2020, but we were COMMITTED to carrying on our mission and you can read about how we "pivoted" below.

After starting 2020 with an amazing January Dream Flight Day for a group of kids from Dedham, ATC's regular activities came to a grinding halt in March. But when the COVID-19 pandemic forced ATC to postpone kids' Dream Flights this spring, we pivoted to offer "Dream Flyovers" to bring the flights to the kids. We changed from operating as an airport-based program, to a "road and air show". Local firefighters and police generously partnered with Above the Clouds' to add a Drive-by component to the planned Flyovers to create full ground-to-air friendship missions. Since April, the Dream Flyovers / Drive-bys have benefited more than 200 children in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The Flyovers helped keep kids' hope alive and planted the seeds for kids to envision themselves as Dream Flyers, Discovery Flyers or Cadet Flyers when it is safe for Above the Clouds to resume airport-based programming. That was the summary, but the equally important story of the ATC Dream Flyovers is that, more than at any other time, the Flyovers validated ATC's belief in the transformational power of joy, and the enormous impact a small act of kindness can make... on everyone involved. 2020 created enormous stress, along with widespread yearning for joy. As major airlines cut flights, the Dream Flyovers gave ATC the privilege to offer hundreds of people a chance to experience joy through aviation in action.

Above the Clouds has resumed regular Dream and Discovery Flyer programming in 2021 under new leadership. The Dream Flyovers were enormously successful and impactful, so these will be added as a permanent program moving forward. The Cadet Flyers Program is being redesigned and will be implemented in 2022.