2006 Appreciation Ceremony to be posted by August 18th

The ceremony on August 4th provided recognition of the students, mentors, supporters and parents involved with NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center and Beltsville Agriculture Research Center. Learn about the exciting Mount Malapert project directed by Mr. Tom Riley of NASA/Goddard and involving four of our students. Below is the model developed by the students to show the location of Mount Malapert near the South Pole of the moon.

  (Click to enlarge)

Interested in meeting the students and reading the transcript? A Sales Presentation for Mount Malapert Research and Industrial Park. It takes a minute to load.

2006 Ice Cream Social at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

The six interns and their mentors at NASA/Goddard enjoyed ice cream and a relaxing setting during an over 90 degree day. Organized by Michael Hartman and others, the ice cream social provides an opportunity for our students to meet with college level interns from across the nation. Many former interns who now ;are Goddard employees attend each summer. Formally and informally around ice cream they encourage our students to pursue their positive career paths.

(Click to enlarge)

VIDEOS:

Videos of Summer 2006 Interns at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Got high band capacity? If so you can visit  www.video.google.com , www.video.yahoo.com ,  www.video.aol.com  or www.youtube.com  and meet the interns from the summer of 2006.  The three minute video takes a bit of time to download.

Videos of Summer 2006 Interns at U.S. Department of Transportation/Federal Transit Administration

Got high band capacity? If so you can visit  www.video.google.com , www.video.yahoo.com ,  www.video.aol.com or www.youtube.com  and meet the interns from the summer of 2006.  The three minute video takes a bit of time to download.

Videos of Summer 2005 Interns at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Got high band capacity? If so you can visit  www.video.google.com , www.video.yahoo.com , www.video.aol.com or  www.youtube.com  and meet the interns from the summer of 2005.  The four minute video takes a bit of time to download.

Visit our YouTube HIGH SCHOOL/HIGH TECH  to view all videos.

2005 Appreciation Ceremony recognizes Summer Interns and Supporters

On August 4th summer interns and supporters, including mentors and parents, celebrated the successes of the summer work done at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center and Beltsville Agriculture Research Center (BARC). At this ceremony held at BARC each of the eleven interns from NASA/Goddard and BARC described what he or she had done and learned during the summer. In many cases it was not just work skills, but also an appreciation of working in the community and meeting new people.

The students' menors described the work completed by the interns. Often the mentors' descriptions and elaborations revealed a high level of work far beyond the students' modest descriptions of what they had done.

Special remarks were made by Mr. John Van de Vaarst, deputy area director of BARC and a champion of HIGH SCHOOL/HIGH TECH. He recounted the 11 year history of students who have worked at BARC through the program and congratulated the current group of four students who performed a variety of important work activities and participated in a variety of learning experiences.

Ms. Lori Simmons, chief of the Equal Opportunities Program Office at Goddard, also made special remarks about the program. While the program has been at Goddard for 13 years, Ms. Simmons is new to her position and becoming acquainted with HIGH SCHOOL/HIGH TECH. She emphasized the importance of internships and encouraged the students to contact their mentors about continuing involved with Goddard as they develop their careers.

Mr. Michael Hartman, manager of the Employment Program for People with Disabilities at NASA/Goddard commended the students about their excellent performance during the past six weeks. Mr. Hartman who was instrumental in developing the program at Goddard 13 years ago noted that the students represented one of the most successful groups of interns ever at Goddard.

Of special note was the congratulatory comments from Miss Tonya Stellar, manager of the northern Prince George's County office of the Division of Rehabilitation Services, one of HIGH SCHOOL/HIGH TECH's partners and funders. she invited the students to keep in contact with DORS for assistance in their schooling and training. 

As always the highlight of the ceremony was the pride and enthusiasm with which the students described their achievements and what they had learned. Each had made valuable contributions and they realized their new options.

Sierra Conaway, of DuVal High School, expresses her enthusiasm about her experinces at BARC for the past six weeks.

(Click to enlarge)

Stephanie Ruiz, recent graduate of Eleanor Roosevelt High School and soon to be freshman at Gallaudet University, interned at NASA/Goodard last summer as well as this summer. Her web design skills, including Cold Fusion and Dreamweaver, were highly commended by her mentor,

(Click to enlarge)

William Zelenka, who interned at NASA/Goddard in 2000, now works for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is assigned to BARC. He graduated from Parkdale High School and attends Prince George's Community College. William encouraged the students to keep involved with the program. He described the value that HIGH SCHOOL/HIGH TECH has brought to his career and encouraged everyone to update their resumes on the HIGH SCHOOL/HIGH TECH resume generator.

A story about the Appreciation Ceremony is also found on the State of Maryland High School/High Tech website:
http://marylandhsht.org/HSHT/News/UCP_appreciation.htm

Some of our recent articles in the print news media

We recently (February 2004) had a great article about our SUPER TECHS. This selected group worked with the Prince George's County One-Stop to gain new skills and resources. Each participant received a computer donated by Baker and Hostetler, Counselors at Law, and refurbished by Prince George's Community College and TESST College. The story focused on one of the SUPER TECHS, Andre Keith: DuVal senior benefits from high school program.
http://gazette.net/200408/clinton/news/202912-1.html

The story about the computer give-aways appeared in other papers without website links, including a great article by David Emanuel in the February 12, 2004 Bowie Blade-News.

During the Summer of 2003 were featured in two articles in Goddard News and published on the Goddard website:

This first article discussed briefly the summer workers at Goddard and their annual ice cream social where they meet college interns and socialize with their mentors and supporters: Goddard Provides Unique Work Experiences For Students With Disabilities.
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/goddardnews/20030725/disabled.html

The second article focused on the Appreciation Ceremony at the end of the summer work and on Dante Bailey of Eleanor Roosevelt High School: High School/High Tech Students Explore Beyond Expectations.
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/goddardnews/20030815/hightech.html

The Gazette papers in Prince George's County had a series of articles about the summer work experiences of students. Depending on the community the articles had quotations from different students regarding their experiences:

In the Bowie area the Bowie Star featured Richard Haas of Bowie High School who worked at Goddard Space Flight Center: High School/High Tech wraps up.
http://www.gazette.net/200332/bowie/news/171967-1.html

In the Laurel area the Laurel Gazette featured Shawnte Sumter of Parkdale High School who worked at Beltsville Agriculture Research Center: High School High-tech wraps up.
http://www.gazette.net/200332/laurel/news/171803-1.html  

We have had a series of recent articles focusing on the capabilities of the new website and the program.Of these articles one is available for linkage: New Web site helps students find niche in technology.  http://www.gazette.net/200312/princegeorgescty/county/149470-1.html  

An article appeared in some editions of the Gazette papers in Prince George's County. It focused on the recent computer giveaway project wherein twelve of our participants received refurbished and reloaded computers: UCP computer giveaway.
http://www.gazette.net/200317/bowie/news/155275-1.html



HIGH SCHOOL/HIGH TECH Cited at Presidential Task Force Meeting

In March, 1998, President William J. Clinton created the Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities. On December 14th, reports of Work Groups were presented to members of the Presidential Task Force and its Chair, Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman, and Vice Chair Tony Coelho, Chairman of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities.

In his remarks to the Task Force, Vice Chair Coelho noted that some youth with disabilities grow up without the expectation of a career, drop out of school more frequently than their peers, and are less likely to enroll in postsecondary education.

Said Coelho, "One such program aimed at reversing this disturbing education trend is High School/High Tech. This program seeks to encourage and develop the talent needed in today's high-tech workplace. It provides mentoring programs to offer professional guidance to students, arranges visits to laboratories and high-tech offices, conducts science seminars, and helps eager-to-learn students get valuable on-the-job experience in technological fields where thousands of career opportunities exist."

Attending the meeting of the Presidential Task Force was Vice President Al Gore, Jr. Four programs were highlighted for Vice President Gore. One of these was HIGH SCHOOL/ HIGH TECH, an initiative of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities.

Representing HIGH SCHOOL/HIGH TECH was Akia Hood, a senior at Friendly High School in Clinton, MD. Hood worked in the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation for six weeks last year as part of HIGH SCHOOL/HIGH TECH's internship program.

Asked by Vice President Gore to describe her experiences, Hood noted her after school visits and her work at the Department of Transportation. She also cited her computer training through HIGH SCHOOL/HIGH TECH.

These experiences have led Hood to seek a career with computers. She is considering the National Institute for the Deaf in Rochester for post-secondary education. She also has in mind working at the Department of Transportation.

Said Hood, "Being involved with HIGH SCHOOL/HIGH TECH since last year has taught me many things about working with computers. My supervisors at the Department of Transportation helped me to learn office skills and data entry. I really enjoyed my xperience."

Commenting on Akia Hood's past summer internship was Administrator Gordon F. Linton of the FTA. He stated, "FTA is committed to providing meaningful career opportunities for today's youth. Akia Hood was an intern in the 1998 HIGH SCHOOL/HIGH TECH program, and she was a valuable asset to our office. Whenever participants of any career enhancing program have an opportunity to gain meaningful insight into the work force, particularly those with disabilities, it is a gratifying experience for all involved.

The following article appeared in the Thursday February 5, 1998 edition of The Washington Post

High-Tech High Schoolers
Program Exposes Disabled Students to Career Possibilities
By Elissa Leibowitz, Special to The Washington Post

When high school students' exposure to science and technology is limited to daily doses of lectures and basic experiments in chemistry or biology class, many don't consider high-tech careers.

Yet the demand for technology-fluent workers is growing; in Prince George's County more than 18,000 jobs at 156 companies require high-technology skills, said Joseph J. James, president and chief executive of the county's Economic Development Corporation.

Another statistic also interests educators and local business leaders: Just one-third of disabled people are employed. Pair the two figures, and there's a prime opportunity to encourage seldom-targeted high school students with disabilities to consider careers in science and technoloy.

Educators have been helped in that campaign by a 15-year-old national program called High School/High Tech. School officials choose science-interested sophomores with disabilities to complete the three-year, after-school program of career workshops and field trips and a six-week, paid summer internship..

The program is at three Montgomery County high schools - Kennedy, Montgomery Blair and Rockville - and at seven Prince George's high schools: Bowie, Duval, Friendly, High Point, Northwestern, Parkdale and Eleanor Roosevelt.

"The goal is to give those students an opportunity to see themselves in a science or technology field, even though they... were held back or might not see a talent in themselves," said Martha Pugh, an Eleanor Roosevelt teacher who oversees her school's program.

Consider Erick Flora. After six weeks' worth of access to laboratories at Goddard Space Center and he wasn't at his reading level until just before high school. But he said, he knows his disability will not limit his options.

"Everything that I've done, I've succeeded at," said Flora, a shot-putter and discus thrower on the track and field team and an ROTC member. He holds a part-time job at Bennigan's restaurant in Greenbelt and has a 3.14 grade-point average.

High School/High Tech is in place at 18 schools in 12 states and targets science-oriented students who happen to have disabilities. Some, like Flora have learning disabilities. Others can only hear with a hearing aid or have vision troubles. And some have other physical disabilities.

They all get the opportunity to work at such federal agencies as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Department of Transportation.

"A lot of these kids never dreamed of being in settings like that," Pugh said. "It gives the kids a sense of, 'Wow, I could do that or I could be a politician or do a lot of things.' It gives them a sense that, 'I am unstop-pable.'"

But that is not always what happens. According to the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, just 9 percent of American adults with disabilities have college degrees. High School/High Tech not only aims to help improve that statistic but also hopes to make the change from high school to college or employment easier.

"The transition from school work to the world of work is daunting," said Lucrezia Rotolo, of Gaithersburg, whose daughter Vanessa Soudier, a Rockville High School senior, participates in High School/High Tech.

Soudier, 18, worked at the Department of Agriculture, examining how meat can be made more tender.

"I almost failed chemistry last year," said Soudier, who wants to be a veterinarian. The internship, she said "helped me understand better. The science came alive."

Employers who participate in the program do not give students busy work and try not to treat them any differently than other employees.

"We don't have a telethon-mentality as far as the students are concerned," said Michael Hartman, manager of the Program for People with Disabilities at Goddard Space Center, where 19 High School/High Tech students worked this past summer. "What we have. is a program with typical teenagers with a variety of skills who just happen to have disabilities."

Those typical teenagers have typical fears, too. Some students navigated the Metro subway system alone for the first time, and others worried about what to wear to work. The after-school workshops included tips on learning how to ride Metro and how to dress appropriately.

Certain fears, though, are unique to those with disabilities, said senior Brenette Bell, 17, who spent the summer at the Department of Transportation.

"At first I thought, What if they don't accept me because I can't really hear on the telephone?" said Bell, whose hearing impairment requires the use of a hearing aide. "I was told [by mentors at school] that they'll deal with that, and I was, like, 'Okay!'"

The program also makes students more aware of their rights under the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990. Likewise, employers become more aware of disabled persons' abilities. Many times, they finish the program just as surprised as the students, said Verna Marie Chiarello, supervisor of special education for Montgomery County schools.

"Sometimes we make assumptions about an individual because of how they look that has nothing to do with [his or her] ability," Chiarello said.

The High School/High Tech program only assumes that the participants will leave the program more self-confident and hopefully will go to college. Flora said he would like to attend Prince George's Community College in the fall and then go to a four-year college. Soudier is considering attending the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester, N.Y. And Bell wants to study law at a local college.

Mission accomplished.

To learn more about the High School/High Tech program, contact coordinator Charles McNelly at United Cerebral Palsy of Prince George's and Montgomery counties at 301-262-4993.


Getting Skills and Bridging the Digital Divide

Fourteen HIGH SCHOOL/HIGH TECH students received 40 hours of intensive computer training in preparation for their summer work experience. Prince George's Community College hosted the computer training workshop which was funded by Prince George's County Workforce Service Corporation (WSC).

HIGH SCHOOL/HIGH TECH offered the computer training workshop to 15 students, first come- first served, between their 11th and 12th grade year who participate in the HIGH SCHOOL/HIGH TECH program and attend selected Prince George's County High Schools. The intensive training provided an opportunity for the students to refresh their computer skills and gain new skills which they carried immediately into their summer jobs. Most of the students' summer jobs started the week following the computer training.

The students became knowledgeable about what can be accomplished with a computer, learned to troubleshoot computer errors, and learned to be knowledgeable consumers. They also learned computer vocabulary so that texts and instructions can be understood. Specifically students gained hands-on use of Windows 95 operating system and Microsoft DOS to accomplish tasks with the minimum amount of assistance. Among the applications introduced were: (1) Microsoft Word (wordprocessor), (2) Microsoft Excel (spreadsheet), (3) Microsoft Access (database), and (4) Microsoft Power Point (presentation graphics).

Students also learned about many accessories that a user can employ to accomplish necessary tasks, including Wordpad, Notepad, Paint, Calculator, and Character Map. Also, the students were introduced to how to research and find information of many kinds to be effective on the job. They practiced navigating the World Wide Web and learned tips and places to go to get information needed to accomplish objectives.

At the conclusion of 40 hours of intensive computer training, the students evaluated the course and instructor and overall expressed very strongly their acceptance. They "very strongly agreed" that the training would help them in the office at work, at school and at home.

Here are a few responses from students:

Anthony Day stated "The computer class taught me some things I didn't know like editing and putting names on slides using Power Point."

Jason Thomas stated "The class was helpful... I learned to find things quicker and easier on the Internet... My supervisor asked me to demonstrate power point to see if at work I knew it. I put together a slide presentation using Power Point... I practiced that in the class!"

Peter Renzi stated "I liked learning about the inside of the computer, about mega bytes and about speed and size of the computer.... I liked that best. The class helped me know how to draw tables and put them into text... I use Microsoft Word on my job!"

Thanks to the Prince George's Workforce Services Corporation for providing this valuable experience. HIGH SCHOOL/HIGH TECH sought to offer a similar program for students in the Montgomery County Public Schools and had the cooperation of the Montgomery College Information Technology Institute. However, we were not able to secure financial support. We are seeking to develop a program in Montgomery County for next year and to expand opportunities in Prince George's County.

THE CREW UPON COMPLETION OF COURSE	ALL EYES ON THE SCREENS
ANTHONY DAY EXPLORES UNENDING POSSIBILITIES	PETER RENZI FOUND MICROSOFT WORD USEFUL FOR HIS JOB AT NASA

Email Me To A Friend!        Print Friendly