Not many high school students can say they worked at National Aeronautics and Space Administration for the summer.
That's the pride that Christopher Reynolds, 16, a senior at Meade High School expressed when asked about his participation in the NASA Interdisciplinary National Science Project Incorporating Research and Education Experience internship program this summer.
Christopher and Otha Thornton III, 17, also a senior, attended the eight-week program for rising seniors which provides on-the-job experience working under the guidance of a mentor in engineering, science or other profession at a NASA facility.
The students, working as members of the mentor's technology project team, are expected to contribute to the team mission. The students are also paid a stipend.
Christopher and Otha were two of 10 high school students who interned at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt. The students lived on the campus of the University of Maryland during the internship.
Both students participate in Meade's rigorous International Baccalaureate Program and have taken advanced math and engineering courses in IB and Project Lead The Way, the high school's pre-engineering program.
The young men aspire to work in engineering -- Christopher wants to become a mechanical engineer and Otha has his sights on a career in electrical engineering.
"I got some good experiences [through the internship]," Otha said. "It taught me how to deal with certain engineering problems and how to work with engineers."
Christopher said, "It allowed me to see what my options are -- if I should work for the federal government or in the private sector."
The young men worked on a project led by Robert Boyle, a NASA cryogenics engineer, developing sensors for a helium pump that may be used to launch rockets for NASA lunar missions.
"They came into the internship very well prepared," Boyle said, noting that both Christopher and Otha were confident and eager to learn new things.
Boyle said it is likely that the work these students accomplished will move the helium pump project forward to its next step in development at the Kennedy Space Center in Orlando, Fla.
In addition to working with Boyle, the young men learned about earth science and also the Hubble space telescope, all fulfilling childhood ambitions.
"This is something he's been dreaming about since he was 3 years old," said Otha Miller, Christopher's father and president of the Parent Teacher Student Association at Meade.
"This was a phenomenal opportunity," said Caryn Thornton, Otha's mother and the coordinator of Meade's Advancement Via Individual Determination college preparatory program. "My husband and I felt very strongly about his participation and were very supportive."
Thornton said her son has also had an interest in engineering since childhood. When Otha was 6 years old, he made a pin ball machine out of a shoe box and construction paper.
Upon graduation, Christopher hopes to attend either Cornell University or the Naval Academy at Annapolis. Otha hopes to attend a five-year dual engineering degree program offered as a partnership between Morehouse College and Georgia Tech.
Boyle said both Christopher and Otha are well suited for their chosen career path. "They will do very well," he said.
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