LACONIA Daily Sun article on March 11, 2020— The Greater Lakes Region Children’s Auction awarded a $5,000 grant for youth attending WinnAero’s ACE Academies this coming summer. WinnAero is the non-profit based at the Laconia Airport whose mission is to provide STEM education for youth through hands-on aviation and aerospace activities. The primary thrust of the WinnAero mission is achieved through its series of age-appropriate summer day camps; the ACE Academies. "We are profoundly grateful to the Children’s Auction for their generous grant," said WinnAero President, Karen Mitchell. Her colleague, the WinnAero Director of Educational Programming Dan Caron, has outlined plans to implement the grant to benefit young students. “This grant enables us to subsidize a larger share of ACE Academy tuition for young people of limited or modest financial means” said Caron. “We’ll also be able to purchase additional equipment for our hands-on approach to learning. Items such as drones, model rockets and flight simulator software will supplement our classroom instruction tremendously” he added. The ACE Academies are conducted at the Laconia Airport with half-day programs for elementary-aged students and full day programs for middle and high school students. This year’s schedule includes sessions from the weeks of July 6-10 and 13-17. Interested parents/students should contact Education Director Caron at dan.caron@winnaero.org for details and visit the website www.winnaero.org for a photo tour of previous ACE Academies. The Greater Lakes Region Children’s Auction is an annual event held in December to benefit youth and organizations throughout Central New Hampshire. From its early beginnings 37 years ago when $2,100 was raised from the communities of the Lakes Region, the annual event has grown immensely thanks to countless volunteers and donors who have made it the Lakes Region’s single largest fund-raising event. Since its inception, the Children’s Auction has raised and distributed more than 6.1 million dollars for local charities and non-profits. Thank you Lakes Region! For more information about the Children’s Auction and how you can help, visit www.childrensauction.com or call 603-527-0999.