|
|
|
McLoud High School students Data Condulle and RayAnn Haslam, who will both be seniors in the fall, were accepted to join a handful of high schoolers for a summer Residential Internship program with NASA.
“I’m glad they did it, I was just floored when the two got accepted,” Kristi Stricklin, instructor at Gordon Cooper Technology Center, said. “Both kids are exceptional students. Data’s at school at 7:30 every morning and RayAnn has the top grade in her class almost all the time.”
The two left their homes in McLoud Sunday, headed for the Johnson Space Center in Houston, where they will participate in the INSPIRE — Interdisciplinary National Science Project Incorporating Research and Education — Program and STEM — Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics — Experience there throughout the summer. They are expected to return home in early August.
Both students were enrolled in GCTC’s Pre-Engineering Academy when Stricklin told them about the NASA internship opportunities. The application process began last year, Condulle said, and the teenagers learned they were accepted in April.
“It was a two-step process,” Condulle said. “First, you had to apply for the online community and answer some questions, like an essay, about why you wanted to do it and how it would help you. After the online community accepted you, then you had to apply for the internship and give them your transcript.”
Condulle said his essay explained that the NASA internship program would provide him a “once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
“It’s something very rare, something that will be very helpful to me later on,” Condulle said. “I told them it would teach me working skills and give me a lot of diversity.”
After the essay portion, candidates were interviewed via telephone by a NASA representative. Condulle and Haslam were selected from about 400 applicants for the Residential Intership at Johnson Space Center.
“From my understanding, only 1,200 were accepted to the online community throughout the entire nation,” Stricklin said. “We had five students accepted for the online community.”
Condulle, who took flight lessons at age 16, became a licensed pilot at 17. His future plans include attending the University of Oklahoma upon graduation from McLoud High School.
“I’m probably going to try to major in some type of engineering, like aerospace engineering,” Condulle said. “This is like a stepping stone for that. I want to be a pilot combining aerospace engineering and piloting and just see where life takes me.”
Condulle said he hopes to obtain “life skills and open more doors to different career opportunities” while at NASA. Haslam agreed.
“This is my first job,” she said. “I hope to gain a better understanding of the workforce because right now, I have no clue. And I might want to work for NASA one day.”
Neither of the two have held jobs before, nor have they visited Houston.
“I think my parents are more excited than me right now, because I’m so nervous and I’ve just been busy getting everything ready,” Haslam said. “And July 4 is the only time we can have visitors, but I think I can make it OK.”
Haslam said she always thought NASA would be a “great place to work.”
“I’m not sure what that’s all about because I’ve never worked, but I know NASA will be a good place to learn,” she said.
In addition to Condulle’s and Haslam’s acceptance to the Residential Internship, Dillon Smith, a 2008-2009 Bethel High School senior; Cody Hager, a 2008-2009 Shawnee High School senior; and Whitney Heer, a 2008-2009 Shawnee High School sophomore were also accepted to the online community.
Heer received acceptance to the Collegiate Experience, which includes a two-week internship in August at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. This internship is another NASA-sponsored experience but applies to sophomore students only.
For more information about available NASA internship programs, visit www.nasa.gov and follow the education link.
McLoud High School students Data Condulle and RayAnn Haslam, who will both be seniors in the fall, were accepted to join a handful of high schoolers for a summer Residential Internship program with NASA.
“I’m glad they did it, I was just floored when the two got accepted,” Kristi Stricklin, instructor at Gordon Cooper Technology Center, said. “Both kids are exceptional students. Data’s at school at 7:30 every morning and RayAnn has the top grade in her class almost all the time.”
The two left their homes in McLoud Sunday, headed for the Johnson Space Center in Houston, where they will participate in the INSPIRE — Interdisciplinary National Science Project Incorporating Research and Education — Program and STEM — Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics — Experience there throughout the summer. They are expected to return home in early August.
Both students were enrolled in GCTC’s Pre-Engineering Academy when Stricklin told them about the NASA internship opportunities. The application process began last year, Condulle said, and the teenagers learned they were accepted in April.
“It was a two-step process,” Condulle said. “First, you had to apply for the online community and answer some questions, like an essay, about why you wanted to do it and how it would help you. After the online community accepted you, then you had to apply for the internship and give them your transcript.”
Condulle said his essay explained that the NASA internship program would provide him a “once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
“It’s something very rare, something that will be very helpful to me later on,” Condulle said. “I told them it would teach me working skills and give me a lot of diversity.”
After the essay portion, candidates were interviewed via telephone by a NASA representative. Condulle and Haslam were selected from about 400 applicants for the Residential Intership at Johnson Space Center.
“From my understanding, only 1,200 were accepted to the online community throughout the entire nation,” Stricklin said. “We had five students accepted for the online community.”
Condulle, who took flight lessons at age 16, became a licensed pilot at 17. His future plans include attending the University of Oklahoma upon graduation from McLoud High School.
“I’m probably going to try to major in some type of engineering, like aerospace engineering,” Condulle said. “This is like a stepping stone for that. I want to be a pilot combining aerospace engineering and piloting and just see where life takes me.”
Condulle said he hopes to obtain “life skills and open more doors to different career opportunities” while at NASA. Haslam agreed.
“This is my first job,” she said. “I hope to gain a better understanding of the workforce because right now, I have no clue. And I might want to work for NASA one day.”
Neither of the two have held jobs before, nor have they visited Houston.
“I think my parents are more excited than me right now, because I’m so nervous and I’ve just been busy getting everything ready,” Haslam said. “And July 4 is the only time we can have visitors, but I think I can make it OK.”
Haslam said she always thought NASA would be a “great place to work.”
“I’m not sure what that’s all about because I’ve never worked, but I know NASA will be a good place to learn,” she said.
In addition to Condulle’s and Haslam’s acceptance to the Residential Internship, Dillon Smith, a 2008-2009 Bethel High School senior; Cody Hager, a 2008-2009 Shawnee High School senior; and Whitney Heer, a 2008-2009 Shawnee High School sophomore were also accepted to the online community.
Heer received acceptance to the Collegiate Experience, which includes a two-week internship in August at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. This internship is another NASA-sponsored experience but applies to sophomore students only.
For more information about available NASA internship programs, visit www.nasa.gov and follow the education link.
