Virginia high school students will get the chance to learn and teach during the Summer Volunteer Leadership program, a joint program between NASA Langley Research Center and the Virginia Air & Space Center. The students will spend one week learning all about NASA technologies and careers, and then serve as mentors to middle-school age campers at the Exploring with NASA camp at the Virginia Air & Space Center. The NASA/VASC Summer Volunteer Leadership program starts July 14 and ends July 25, 2008.
July 14-18 2008
During a one-week training period at Langley Research Center, area high school students will be immersed in all things NASA, learning about NASA history, space science and the future of space exploration. The students will work with NASA educators to design a camp for middle-school-age students. With the guidance of NASA employees, these students will get the chance to test their leadership and creative-thinking abilities, and will serve as mentors to the younger campers.
July 21-25, 2008
The Virginia Air and Space Center will be the primary site for the Exploring with NASA camp. Campers will participate in hands-on activities designed to simulate many of the challenges NASA is facing today, from keeping astronauts safe to planning missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. Campers and their mentors will have the opportunity to tour Langley Research Center and meet with former astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz.
A trip to Busch Gardens on July 24 is also planned. There, students will celebrate Exploration Day as they compare the g-forces they feel on roller coasters to g-forces associated with NASA rockets. Throughout the week, some of the high school mentors will also have the opportunity to work with children at the Hampton Salvation Army Camp, the Yorktown YMCA summer Camp, and the Cancer Clinic at the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters in Norfolk.
Media interested in attending program activities should contact Matt Coffey at 864-4413 or Megan Steele at 727-0900, ext. 730.
