SHARP Provides Exposure, Discoveries and Insight for High School Students

"As my first encounter with the professional world of work, SHARP has been the experience of a lifetime for me," said Allison Pitt, a junior at Springbrook High School, Silver Spring, Maryland. She is one of 19 students selected to participant in the 2003 Summer High School Apprenticeship Research Program (SHARP) at Goddard.

	Vani Takiar, St. Paul's School for Girls, explains her project to on lookers.

"Through SHARP, I have learned many lessons that I will be able to take with me through college and throughout my life," said Pitt. "I greatly appreciate all who have made this wonderful opportunity possible," she added.

Pitt along with 18 other Goddard SHARP apprentice presided over the closing ceremony and a poster session as a final assignment and conclusion of their official training at Goddard. The ceremony was held Wednesday, August 13 in building 26.

"You are not the same people that walked through the doors 8 weeks ago," said Lisa Williams, SHARP Deputy Program Manager, Modern Technology Systems Incorporated, during remarks at the closing ceremony. She pronounced, "You have now graduated from SHARP apprentice to SHARP ambassadors."

During the closing activities parents, mentors and other members of the Goddard community were afforded the opportunity to see these highly talented high school students in action. The students displayed posters of their work and made oral presentations of their projects and their summer experiences.

Myrtle Brijbasi, SHARP Coordinator Photos by Chris Gunn

"There is a lot of pride in this room today," said Myrtle Brijbasi, Goddard' SHARP coordinator. "You should congratulate yourselves for an excellent summer here at Goddard," said Brijbasi.

According to Brijbasi, the selection process was very competitive this year. "Initially there were 400 applicants with 230 meeting minimum requirements, said Brijbasi. She said that although the required grade point average is 3.0 the average for the 19 selected in this year's program was 3.8.

During their stay, the students were presented with a wealth of opportunity to interact with the best that NASA and Goddard has to offer. They were involved in a joint activity program with Kennedy Space Flight Center researching possible difficulties of people living on Mars to include researching the difficulties of building a greenhouse there. The apprentices were involved in the Toastmasters Program at Goddard, which provided each an opportunity to further develop their presentation skills.

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