Local students participate in Washington Aerospace Scholars program
February 16, 2013 · 12:52 PM
Delaney Ralph of Auburn Mountainview High School, Navid Azodi of Kentwood and Douglas Smith of Internet Academy have been accepted into Phase One of the 2012-13 Washington Aerospace Scholars (WAS) program.
The WAS program, now in its seventh year, is a free, competitive, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education program for high school juniors from throughout the state and is affiliated with NASA Johnson Space Center's National High School Aerospace Scholars program and with the University of Washington's Department of Earth and Space Science.
WAS Phase One participants have the option to receive five University of Washington credits in Space and Space Travel (ESS 102) upon on their successful completion of the online WAS curriculum and this course will satisfy the Natural World area of knowledge requirement for graduation from the University of Washington.
The program's primary goal is to excite and prepare student to pursue careers pathways in STEM fields.
By using a distance-learning curriculum designed in partnership with NASA and the UW, WAS gives students the opportunity to explore topics such as the history of human spaceflight and the impacts of space weather on future human exploration of the universe.
Since 2006, more than 1,700 juniors, representing every state legislative district, have participated in the online distance learning curriculum offered by WAS Since the program launched in 2006, and more than 860 have completed a six-day summer residency held at The Museum of Flight.
These students are among the 285 student applicants from 117 different public, private and home-school organizations who applied in fall of 2012 to participate, and are now some of the 218 students still participating in the program.
There is no cost to students to participate in the WAS program thanks to the continuing support from former Gov. Chris Gregoire, The Boeing Company, The Washington NASA Space Grant Consortium, The GenCorp Foundation, BAE Systems and many individual donors.
Washington Aerospace Scholars applications for the 2013-14 program cycle will be available late summer 2013 at www.museumofflight.org/was.
WAS participants must be high school juniors, U.S. citizens and Washington state residents with a 3.0 minimum grade-point-average.
