NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility employees recently lent a helping hand to local students searching for a path towards a future career.
More than 3,500 eighth grade public, home, and private school students from Accomack, Somerset, Worcester, Wicomico, Talbot, Caroline, and Dorchester counties participated in the 2022 Junior Achievement (JA) Inspire event March 29 and 30, at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center in Salisbury, Maryland.
“The JA Inspire event is an important opportunity for students to learn about NASA, aerospace careers and future career interests. We are proud to support our local students and provide them with opportunities to explore career paths,” said David L. Pierce, director of Wallops. “Hopefully, they’ll one day join us at Wallops.”
The aeronautics/aerospace cluster was supported by 40 Wallops personnel supporting sounding rockets, scientific balloons, small satellites, range and mission management, robotics, science, the Visitor Center, and education.
In addition, 15 personnel from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Navy’s NAWCAD/Prototyping Instrumentation and Experimentation Program, Atlantic Ranges and Targets, as well as the Surface Combat Systems Center supported the event.
The students engaged in hands-on activities and learned about diverse career opportunities as they interacted with representatives who shared their roles, skill sets, and the academic foundation necessary for future employment. The participating students completed lessons prior to this event designed to get them thinking about future careers.
JA Inspire offers students the opportunity to learn about careers in time to plan their high school course work. For NASA and businesses, this is a chance to build their future workforce through experiential and hands-on learning.
The Junior Achievement of the Eastern Shore led the planning for JA Inspire with the goal to utilize educators and community members to help students map out a plan for future success.
Keith Koehler
NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia