Clark student is one of six teens to take part in U.S. Space Academy – Union News Daily
Union County's Local Source
NEWARK, NJ — The Scholarship Fund for Inner-City Children, a partner of the Archdiocese of Newark, recently gave six incoming high school seniors from archdiocesan Catholic schools the summer of a lifetime by providing scholarships to attend the prestigious Advanced Space Academy at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala.
The students were chosen through a highly competitive selection process that required applicants to submit academic transcripts, a teacher recommendation and an essay explaining the significance of STEM in their lives and career goals.
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During the weeklong program, students participated in advanced educational and team-building activities, including building and launching rockets, piloting jet aircraft simulators and completing an extended-duration Mars mission simulation. They also experienced a moonwalk in a 1/6th gravity chair and endured the spinning forces of a multi-axis trainer.
This year’s SFIC Space Academy scholarship recipients were:
“SFIC has been proud to offer this scholarship program for the past 29 years because we see the transformative impact it has on students,” said Jasmin Roman, SFIC’s director of scholarship programs. “Our recipients gain knowledge, skills and a passion for STEM that will serve them in the career they pursue – and they return more confident in themselves. It’s truly a life-changing experience.”
The Space Academy scholarships are funded by Mark and Kathy Walchak, former archdiocesan parishioners whose daughter once attended the program. Inspired by her experience, they have generously supported the initiative since 1996, sending nearly 200 Catholic school students to Huntsville. Many alumni have gone on to STEM careers – including two who joined NASA’s Mars Exploration Program.
For more information about SFIC and its Space Academy scholarships, visit www.sficnj.org.
Photos Courtesy of Sean Quinn
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