The U.S Navy’s Blue Angels will be returning to Lake Charles to headline the 2025 Chennault International Airshow. 

Mary Jo Bayles, airshow executive director, announced the details of the 2025 airshow on Tuesday at Million Air Lake Charles, one of the show’s sponsors.

From Oct. 24 to 26, the premier jet team will land in the area to be the “centerpiece of the event.”

“We’re starting to build our air show around this premier jet team, and I promise you its going to be a state-of-the-art and rock your socks off best air show ever.”

She said the hybrid show — featuring walk-ins and tailgating — will be “different, high-impact, high-energy and family fun-filled.”

The Blue Angels requested to return to Southwest Louisiana for the airshow during the school year, she said. While they are visiting in 2025, members of the team will visit area schools to further the show’s commitment to benefit local youth. 

The proceeds from the airshow are funneled back into the community. After each show, STEM grants are distributed to area schools that apply. 

The grant program called Stimulate Learning has existed for three years. Mallory Beasley, director of education and outreach, said that over that time, over $50,000 in proceeds from airshows have been reinvested into the community.

Elementary to collegiate level schools from the five-parish area are able to apply for grant funding. 

“Our passion is STEM education, and we have been so lucky every year to give back to the community,” Bayles said. 

The Calcasieu Parish Police Jury is another air show sponsor. CPPJ President Anthony Bartie, District 9, said the STEM grants are “money well spent.”

“It’s always good when you can make contributions to something that benefits our children.” 

Grant Recipients

The money from the grants go “directly back into the classroom,” Beasley said.

This year, five grants worth a total of $21,031.38 were distributed. Each school that applied for the grant received funding. 

Life Christian Academy recieved a grant of $2,999 for Brainy Builders, a “collaborative and dynamic” STEM project that uses LEGO sets to help students in thrid through fifth grade develop their coding, designing and engineering skills. 

St. Louis Catholic School was given a $4,994 grant to support the school’s recently instituted engineering and robotics program called Project Lead the Way. 

A $3,490 grant was awarded to the Barbe High School robotics team. The grant funded the team as they prepared for the 2023-24 VEX Robotics Competition. 

The largest grant of $9,000 was given to the Lake Charles Boston Academy Virtual Instruction Program (VIP). This amount will be used for a virtual reality headset library for high school students that participate in VIP.

Our Lady Queen of Heaven Sxhool was granted $546.73 for their project “Harnessing the Wind.” Seventh and eight grade students will create a model windmill based onthe nonfiction novel “The Boy Who Harness the Wind” by william Kamkwamba.