EIG Watson — Taking Off: The Timothy E. Johnson Scholarship provided four School of Aviation students with $8,000 each to help them become pilots. Pictured from left to right are the winners Maiky Cortes, Steven Rivas, Ricardo Santiago Lopez and Jordan Ripley Hauptfeld. PHOTO COURTESY OF LILIANA MORA/ MDC MEDIA RELATIONS

Aviation Students Receive $8,000 Scholarship

June 9, 2023

Four Miami Dade College students from the Eig-Watson School of Aviation received the $8,000 Timothy E. Johnson scholarship.

The winners are Maiky Cortes, Jordan Ripley Hauptfeld, Ricardo Santiago Lopez and Steven Rivas.

To apply, students had to have earned at least 12 credits in the School of Aviation and be full-time students. They also needed two letters of recommendation from aviation instructors and a personal essay.

Created in 2013, the scholarship provides MDC $40,000 each year to help School of Aviation Students become pilots.

It also honors the life of Timothy E. Johnson, a local pilot and volunteer for the non-profit organization Pilots N Pawns who died in a plane accident in December of 2012.

Nidley Charles

Nidley Charles, 19, is a biology major in The Honors College at North Campus. Charles, who graduated from William H. Turner Technical Arts High School in 2022, will serve as a briefing writer for The Reporter during the 2023-2024 school year. She aspires to become a scientist and publish academic journals.