Teens attend Space Academy through highly competitive scholarship program
The Scholarship Fund for Inner-City Children (SFIC), a partner of the Archdiocese of Newark, recently gave six high school sophomores and juniors from archdiocesan schools the summer vacation of their dreams by providing them with scholarships to attend the prestigious Advanced Space Academy at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL.
Each teen was selected through a highly competitive process in which applicants submitted their grades, a teacher recommendation, and two essays describing the significance of STEM in their lives and futures. Those chosen to attend the Space Academy enjoyed one week of high-level educational and teambuilding activities, which included building a rocket, flying jet aircraft simulators, and completing an extended-duration Mars mission simulation. They also got to experience a moonwalk using the 1/6th Gravity Chair and a spacecraft tumble in the Multi-Axis Trainer.
“If you have an interest in STEM, this is the best experience you could ask for because you basically get to be an astronaut,” said Jasmin Roman, SFIC’s director of scholarship programs. “You also learn how to work in teams and manage high-pressure situations, which are skills you can use beyond the program. It’s something that really builds character and confidence. That’s why we’ve been sending students to the Space Academy for the past 26 years.”
SFIC’s Space Academy scholarships are made possible through funding from Mark and Kathy Walchak, former archdiocesan parishioners who wanted to give gifted Catholic school students the chance to benefit from the Space Academy like their own daughter had. The Walchaks’ generosity has sent more than 150 teenagers to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center since 1996, with many going on to pursue careers in STEM fields afterward. Two alumni even joined NASA’s Mars Exploration Program.
For more information on the Scholarship Fund for Inner-City Children and its Space Academy scholarships, visit www.sficnj.org.
Photo courtesy of the Scholarship Fund for Inner-City Children
