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GRAFTON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT EARNS NASA
SCHOLARSHIP
Jessica Wignall, a graduating senior at Grafton High School, is
one of five students nationwide to receive a 2004-2005 NASA
Scholarship.
The scholarship is worth $2,000, renewable annually for a
maximum of $8,000 over six calendar years.
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NASA Langley Research Center Director
Roy D. Bridges Jr. presents a NASA
Scholarship award plaque to Jessica Wignall.
She plans to study biology at the University
of Virginia. Photo credit: NASA/Jeff Caplan
High-resolution
(948K)
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Wignall is the stepdaughter of Steven X.S. Bauer, an employee in
NASA Langley Research Center's Configuration Aerodynamics Branch.
Her mother, Carol Bauer, is a teacher at Grafton Bethel Elementary
School.
Wignall learned of the award two weeks ago. "I was really
excited," she said. "Relieved."
Karl G. Schuler, president of the NASA College Scholarship Fund,
said there was an "extraordinary" response rate this year. Eighty
students applied.
"All the applicants are to be commended for their remarkable
achievements," Schuler said. "They have exceedingly high grade
point averages, exceptional SAT scores, and are actively involved
in their communities, making the final selection very
difficult."
Wignall scored 1530 on the SAT and will graduate third in her
class. Her resume includes leadership roles in the Student Council
Association, the Mu Alpha Theta honor society, Model United Nations
and Students Against Destructive Decisions. She volunteers at local
nursing homes and soup kitchens and also completed a mentorship in
the pathology lab at the Mary Immaculate Hospital through the New
Horizons Governor's School for Science and Technology.
She was accepted at Virginia Tech and the College of William and
Mary but will attend the University of Virginia to study biology.
She plans to attend graduate school and hopes to work as a
biological researcher.
"I'd like to be important in some way," she said. "I'd like to
discover something beneficial."
The NASA Scholarship Fund, Inc., is a non-profit corporation
established in 1982 to award academic scholarships to qualified
dependents of NASA employees and is a direct result of a
substantial unsolicited gift by noted Pulitzer Prize-winning author
James A. Michener. There have been a total of 114 recipients of the
scholarship to date.
A high-resolution photo of Wignall accepting the award is
available online at:
http://oea.larc.nasa.gov/news_rels/2004/04-037.html
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