Washington Aerospace Scholarsfoundation

PROMOTE SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATH (STEM) THROUGH A STATEWIDE INTERACTIVE LEARNING EXPERIENCE AND INTERNSHIP AT THE MUSEUM OF FLIGHT IN SEATTLE FOR HIGH SCHOOL JUNIORS IN WASHINGTON STATE.

THE WASHINGTON AEROSPACE SCHOLARS FOUNDATION (WAS) PROGRAM, HOSTED BY THE MUSEUM OF FLIGHT IN SEATTLE, WAS MODELED AFTER A SUCCESSFUL NASA PROGRAM TO PROMOTE SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATH (STEM) LEARNING AMONG HIGH SCHOOL JUNIORS. WAS IS COMPOSED OF TWO PARTS: (1) A SIX-MONTH COMPETITIVE STATEWIDE INTERACTIVE ONLINE LEARNING EXPERIENCE FOLLOWED BY (2) A SIX-DAY SUMMER "DESIGN" EXPERIENCE HOSTED BY THE MUSEUM OF FLIGHT. WITH THE ONGOING COVID-19 PANDEMIC, IT WAS CLEAR THAT WAS WOULD HAVE TO PIVOT ITS PLANS FOR SUMMER PROGRAMMING. AT THE BEGINNING OF 2021, WE DETERMINED THAT ALL WAS PROGRAMMING IN WASHINGTON WOULD BE A HYBRID MODEL, WITH MOST PROGRAMMING HAPPENING ONLINE, AND SMALL GROUPS COMING TO THE MUSEUM FOR A ONE-DAY IN-PERSON EXPERIENCE. 137 STUDENTS AGREED TO CONTINUE WITH THE HYBRID PROGRAM MODEL. DURING THE SUMMER EXPERIENCE WEEK, STUDENTS UTILIZED AN ONLINE PLATFORM TO WORK IN COLLABORATIVE TEAMS WITH INPUT FROM PROFESSIONAL SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS ON THE DESIGN OF A HUMAN MISSION TO MARS. THEY ALSO HAD A CHANCE TO SPEND ONE DAY AT THE MUSEUM OF FLIGHT EXHIBITS AND COMPETE IN A HANDS-ON ENGINEERING CHALLENGE. AFTER COMPLETING THE PROGRAM, STUDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO PURSUE STEM CAREERS AND REPORT THEIR POST-HIGH SCHOOL COLLEGE AND DEGREE FIELD CHOICES TO THE WAS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION. IN MAY OF 2021, 137 OF THE TOP PERFORMING STUDENTS WERE SELECTED FROM THE 263 WHO BEGAN THE DISTANCE LEARNING LESSONS IN NOVEMBER 2020. THESE STUDENTS (IN GROUPS OF UP TO 40 EACH WEEK) WORKED WITH 7 TEACHERS FROM ACROSS WASHINGTON STATE WHO WERE ALSO SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN ONE OR TWO OF THE SUMMER EXPERIENCE SESSIONS. THE PROGRAM WAS FULLY FUNDED THROUGH PRIVATE SOURCES SO THAT ANY INSPIRED STUDENT WILLING TO WORK COULD PARTICIPATE, REGARDLESS OF ECONOMIC ABILITY. STUDENTS REPRESENTED NEARLY EVERY LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT IN THE STATE, AND WERE COMPOSED OF MALE AND FEMALE STUDENTS, AS WELL AS UNDERREPRESENTED ETHNIC AND CULTURAL GROUPS. AS OF DECEMBER 2021, OVER 3,700 STUDENTS HAVE PARTICIPATED IN THE DISTANCE LEARNING PORTION OF THE WASHINGTON AEROSPACE SCHOLARS PROGRAM AND 1,970 STUDENTS HAVE PARTICIPATED IN A SUMMER EXPERIENCE AND BECAME PROGRAM ALUMNI.