WASHINGTON AEROSPACE SCHOLARS FOUNDATION
9404 EAST MARGINAL WAY SOUTH, SEATTLE, WA 981084097 www.museumofflight.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: 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 RESIDENCY "DESIGN" EXPERIENCE AT THE MUSEUM OF FLIGHT. DURING THE RESIDENCY WEEK, STUDENTS FORM COLLABORATIVE TEAMS WHICH WORK WITH PROFESSIONAL SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS TO DESIGN A MISSION TO MARS. THE STUDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO PURSUE STEM CAREERS AND REPORT THEIR POST-HIGH SCHOOL COLLEGE AND DEGREE FIELD CHOICES TO THE WAS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION. IN JUNE OF 2019, 79 OF THE TOP PERFORMING STUDENTS WERE SELECTED FROM THE MORE THAN 203 WHO BEGAN THE DISTANCE LEARNING LESSONS IN NOVEMBER 2018. THESE STUDENTS (IN GROUPS OF 40 EACH WEEK) WORKED WITH 11 TEACHERS FROM ACROSS WASHINGTON STATE WHO WERE ALSO SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN ONE OF THE TWO SUMMER RESIDENCY 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 2019, 3405 STUDENTS HAVE PARTICIPATED IN THE DISTANCE LEARNING PORTION OF THE WASHINGTON AEROSPACE SCHOLARS PROGRAM AND 1622 STUDENTS HAVE PARTICIPATED IN A SUMMER RESIDENCY EXPERIENCE AND BECOME PROGRAM ALUMNI.IN 2019, 261 SCHOLARS WERE GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO SAMPLE THE WAS JUNIOR CURRICULUM THROUGH THE WAS SOPHOMORE PROGRAM. IN THE SUMMER OF 2019, 164 SCHOLARS PARTICIPATED IN A THREE-DAY EXPERIENCE THAT HELPED THEM TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE EXPECTATIONS AND COMPONENTS OF THE WAS JUNIOR PROGRAM. OVER 65% OF THE SCHOLARS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE WAS SOPHOMORE PROGRAM WENT ON TO SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE THE WAS JUNIOR PROGRAM.

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