Barrington Irving
On June 27, 2007, 23-year-old Jamaican-born
Barrington Irving secured his place in history as the
youngest person, and the first African American, ever to
fly solo around the globe. When he took off from Miami
on March 23rd in a single-engine aircraft, thousands of
students and well-wishers cheered him on. Over the next
three months, he flew more than 25,000 miles, traversing
four continents and encountering snow storms,
thunderstorms, sand storms, and monsoons along the way.
Barrington’s purpose in making the historic flight was
to inspire his students, and thousands of others
throughout the world, to pursue their own dreams, and to
encourage them to consider careers in aviation and
aerospace.
Born in Kingston, Barrington moved to South Florida
at the age of 6 and spent his youth in inner-city Miami.
He did well in high school but saw a football
scholarship as the only route to college. At 15,
however, his life changed when he met Gary Robinson, a
Jamaican United Airlines Captain who took an interest in
the young man’s future. Barrington eventually turned
down college football scholarships in favor of studying
aviation. In 2005, Barrington founded Experience
Aviation Inc., a nonprofit organization designed to
introduce young people to the fields of aviation and
aerospace. The first EA Learning Center was opened at
Miami’s Opa-Locka Airport. |
Whitney Wolanin
Appearing at our opening plenary session!
Whether she’s in the studio recording her next big hit, performing live for thousands of people at venues nationwide or speaking out to inspire teens to live healthier, happier lives, powerhouse teen vocalist Whitney Wolanin strives to make an impact. Over the past two years, she’s emerged as a bona fide pop star with two Top Ten singles from her first album Funkology XIII (“It Takes Two” and the teen empowerment anthem “Good”) and most recently, a funk-filled cover of “Frosty The Snowman” from her Christmasology release that hit ..11 on Radio & Records AC chart. “Loud and Clear,” her highly anticipated new single from an upcoming EP of the same name, is due for release in late spring.
Every endeavor Wolanin undertakes as an artist, performer or a guest motivational speaker across the country is geared around helping kids her own age overcome the inherent struggles of being teenagers—the crushing pressures to fit in, be popular, look celebrity-perfect and live up to the expectations of both parents and society. “It’s important to touch on the many issues that teens go through every day, things that my friends and I have personally gone through,” says Wolanin, who was recently inducted in the National Honor Society, reflecting her excellence in leadership, character and academics.
“I want to write and record songs that kids my age can relate to, but also that they could turn up loud and sing along to in the car. The message I want to send is about being independent and finding your own individual personality and style, about not being molded by the conformities of society that tell us we have to look or act a certain way to be worthy, accepted and popular.
"Individuality is one of the things every person has to find sometime in their lives,” she says. “Most importantly, you have to find it for yourself. Never stop being your own person, even if it’s tough at first. Some of the best things in life come with work, and individuality is one of the most important things to achieve. You can’t just become what everyone’s telling you to be, you have to overcome the peer pressure to find out who you are inside. I’ve been there, and it’s really difficult to do this, but I finally got to the point where I knew I had to be happy with myself before I could be happy with others. The music I make is always going to try to inspire kids to stop comparing themselves to faces on magazine covers and listening to degrading lyrics. I really want to inspire people as much as I can.”
Wolanin believes that peer pressure is the most prominent issue facing teens today. “It’s hard to figure out how to change this tough problem,” she says. “The best way, I can see, is to have more positive role models in today’s world. Maybe then it can seem okay to be an individual and more of our youth can see the good in overcoming conformities.”
www.whitneywolanin.com |
