NASA Day June 28th
6/17/2011
Institute, WV – Rockets will be soaring above campus during West Virginia State University’s sixth annual NASA SEMAA Day celebration on June 28th. Officials from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Aerospace Academy (NASA SEMAA), along with WVSU staff, partners, and over 300 youth will gather for the daylong event.
The day’s activities allow the youth to learn about engineering and science then put that knowledge to practical use through interactive experiments, including creating and launching their own bottle rockets.
NASA Day was developed in 2005 with the mission of encouraging youth to pursue careers in the STEM areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. WVSU is partnering with NASA SEMAA and Perragon TEC to bring the 6th Annual NASA SEMAA Day to the campus of West Virginia State University.
“We want these kids to consider sciences as a career; perhaps even become astronauts!” said Dedriell Taylor, Assistant Director of WVSU’s Center for the Advancement of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (CASTEM), and Director of WVSU NASA SEMAA program which hosts the annual celebration.
“NASA SEMAA Day is a great opportunity for all students involved,” added Jomill Wiley, Director of the National NASA SEMAA organization at the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, OH. “The number one thing they’re going to get here is career awareness along with some hands on learning and lots of fun. Hopefully they will be inspired to pursue careers in the STEM areas when they go to college.”
Invited guests and speakers for this year’s NASA SEMAA Day include WV’s own, Dr. Paul L. Hill, Vice Chancellor for Science and Research at the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission (HEPC), while also serving as Executive Director of the West Virginia Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (WVEPSCoR); Jomill Wiley, Director of the National NASA SEMAA organization at the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, OH; Mr. Walter Flournoy from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, in addition to other officials from NASA and the Langley Space Flight Center in Hampton, VA.
All activities for the day take place on WVSU’s campus and begin at 9am in the P.A. Williams Auditorium in Ferrell Hall. The interactive afternoon of science experiments, rocket launching, and NASA SEMAA activities begins at 12:30 pm outside in the center lawn area of WVSU campus.
For more information, contact Dedriell Taylor at (304) 380-2551 or email at dtaylor11@wvstateu.edu.
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