Tuesday, January 14, 2014

High School Aerospace Scholars


homeschool high school


HAS is an interactive online learning experience for high school juniors in Texas. Selected students are nominated by their State Legislator, have an interest in math, science, engineering or computer science, and are encouraged to pursue high tech careers. Participation is highlighted by a six-day experience at the Johnson Space Center.”

We live in Texas and heard about this program from a friend of a friend.  My oldest daughter planned to major in engineering, so this was a perfect fit for her.  We heard about this program right before her junior year; she started the application process right away.

While the requirement to be nominated by your State Legislator may seem to be an obstacle, it is not. The application process includes a letter the student writes to the State Legislator asking to be nominated.  All the information for applying can be found at the website.

Once accepted to the program, the student is committing to a semester long learning experience. Students participate in distance learning activities that include reading, research, short essays, quizzes, and online discussions.  

Students who complete all the assignments participate in a week long, all expense paid experience at NASA.

This is an excerpt of the report my daughter wrote after her time at NASA:


“After the lessons were completed, I participated in a week-long program at the Johnson Space Center. During the week, students were divided into four teams of approximately ten students each, which worked together on different aspects of designing a manned mission to Mars. My team was in charge of working on Mars. The other three teams were Getting There, Living There, and Mission Control. We also toured various NASA facilities, such as the International Space Station mock-up, Shuttle Simulator, Mission Control Center, and the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory; heard presentations by NASA employees such as astronauts and department supervisors; and completed hands-on projects, such as launching a rocket, creating an egg lander, and building a rover. Some of the highlights of the week for me included a presentation on robotics and tours of the Shuttle Simulator and Bio Labs.”


If a student completes the whole program, they can earn a science elective credit.  

If you have a student interested in any of the STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) subjects, don’t miss this opportunity.

While researching this article, I discovered that  Idaho, Virginia, and Washington also offer this program.  Check this website for more details.  http://www.aerospacescholars.org/programs/state

There is also a Community College Aerospace Scholars Program.  This would be ideal for the student who is too old for the High School program, but still has an interest in the program.

4 comments:

9peasMom said...

Once again, great advice and great opportunities! Thank you for sharing these!

Kathleen Caron said...

This is an awesome resource. We live in Virginia and I think Joe would love to do something like that next year. By the way Karen, how familiar are you with CLEP exams? Have your kids done any of those for college credit? James (who is a senior in college) just pointed this out to me for Joe.

karentrina said...

I am somewhat familiar with CLEP exams. I took one in college and couple of my kids have taken them. It seems like when my daughter was at Texas A & M they would not accept English CLEP credit taken at our local junior college. I don't know if that was their policy for all subjects or just English. CLEP exams are a great way to save time and money on a college degree for subjects a student is good at or willing to study.

Daughter said...

A&M has/had their own tests for some subjects. They only accepted those for credit, not CLEP.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...