Cole Kissler selected as WA Aerospace Scholar

A few weeks ago, Odessa High School Junior Cole Kissler submitted an application to become one of Washington State's Aerospace Scholars and on November 24, 2015, Cole found out he was selected. Washington Aerospace Scholars is an educational program for high school juniors from across Washington state. The program emphasizes science, technology, engineering and math and encourages students to consider careers in these fields. Thanks to the Washington Aerospace Scholars Foundation, the entire program is offered at no cost to participants; this includes the educational experience, travel, meals and lodging expenses.

The program is divided into two components – the online curriculum and the summer residency.

Phase one involves distance learning using a NASA-designed, online curriculum consisting of ten lessons and a final project. The curriculum covers the history and future of space exploration. Students complete readings, compose essays, design graphics and solve mathematics problems.

Phase two is a six-day summer residency experience hosted by the Museum of Flight in Seattle. To earn a place in this summer residency program, students are expected to meet deadlines and show mastery of the phase one curriculum; up to 160 of the top-performing students will be invited to participate in the summer residency program based on their academic performance in phase one. During the residency, students are guided by professional engineers and educators as they design a human mission to Mars, tour engineering facilities, receive briefings from experts in the field and compete in hands-on engineering challenges.

Kissler and his science teacher Jeff Wehr honed the application and submitted it due to his interest in aerospace engineering as a career.

"This will be a challenging but highly rewarding endeavor toward Cole's future in engineering," said Wehr. "Congratulations, Cole, for being selected as an aerospace cholar and best of luck toward phase two!"