Aldrich selected for Aerospace Scholars Summer Residency

Lind-Ritzville High School student Sara Aldrich has been selected to participate in one of the four Washington Aerospace Scholars Summer Residency sessions held in June and July at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

Washington Aerospace Scholars (WAS) is a competitive educational program designed to connect high school juniors with educational and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics through independent learning, hands-on interaction, professional guidance and site-based tours.

These scholars are among the 160 students who qualified for the Washington Aerospace Scholars Summer Residency program from 308 students who applied in November.

To qualify for the residency program each student spent five months studying a University of Washington and NASA-designed online curriculum and has been selected based on her academic performance in these lessons.

Through a special partnership with the University of Washington, WAS students were able to register to earn five college credits based on completion of the WAS curriculum.

During the residency experience students will collaborate to design a human mission to Mars with guidance from professional engineers, scientists, university students and certified educators.

In addition to the design of the Mars mission, students will compete in hands-on engineering challenges, receive briefings from experts in aerospace and engineering fields and participate in behind-the-scenes tours, including the Boeing Commercial Airplane assembly plant and the engineering laboratories at the University of Washington.

The program is currently celebrating the eighth year of the program, having almost 2,000 students participate in the online curriculum and as of this summer more than 1,170 students will have participated in the Summer Residency.

Since the program launched in 2006, students from more than 300 different public, private and home schools have participated in WAS and more than 70 percent of the reporting alumni have pursued a college degree in STEM field.

The program now has more than 900 WAS alumni attending some of the top engineering colleges and universities across the U.S. and the first classes of WAS alumni are beginning to enter the STEM workforce.

Washington Aerospace Scholars will begin accepting applications for students and teachers in early September for the 2014-2015 program cycle; visit http://www.museumofflight.org/was to download an application. WAS participants must be high school juniors, United States citizens and Washington state residents.

Teachers must be currently practicing, Washington state certified educators, and must also be U.S. citizens. The deadline for applications is Nov. 7.

For more information, contact Washington Aerospace Scholars at 206-764-5866 or [email protected].