Military children win scholarships to space camp

  • Published
  • By Rudi Williams
  • American Forces Press Service
The Military Child Education Coalition is sending 15 children from military families to the U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala., this year.

When the education coalition started the Bernard Curtis Brown II Memorial Space Camp scholarship award four years ago, there was only enough money to send one student to the camp.

"This year we had 160 applicants, and we selected 15 of them," said retired Army Lt. Gen. Don Jones, a member of the coalition's board of directors. "The first year we sent one; the second year we sent five; the third year we sent 11; and this year, thanks to our generous donors, we're sending 15."

Space Camp students who receive the scholarships are evenly divided from grades six through nine.

Among the 15 children selected, six are from Air Force families. They are:

-- Cody Anderson, an eighth-grader from Shiloh, Ill.

-- Alexandria Berry, a sixth-grader from Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass.

-- Lauren Sepp, a seventh-grader from Hanscom.

-- Clayton Black, a sixth-grader from Germany.

-- Stacy Webb, a ninth-grader from Germany.

-- Michael Sanders Jr., an eighth-grader from Japan.

Talking about the quality of the scholarship recipients, General Jones said 14 of the 15 were honor students; many of them had 4.0 grade-point averages and were in advanced classes. Twelve of them said math and science are their favorite subjects. Six of them want to be pilots. Eight want to work at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Three of them want to attend a service academy.

Six of them are Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts. Ten of them had participated in sports. Eight were in band or some form of music. Four were student council members.

"We had individuals who participated in food drives for the homeless, and some who are members of the Civil Air Patrol and some who are Red Cross volunteers," General Jones said.

"A 13-year-old boy said, 'My main goal in life is to be a good role model for my 1-year-old brother,'" General Jones said. "I don't know what you were doing when you were 13, but I wasn't overly concerned about being a role model at that time. So that was unusual."

The scholarship was named for Bernard Brown II, the 11-year-old son of Navy Chief Petty Officer Bernard Brown. Bernard "had been selected to go to California by the National Science Foundation to attend a science conference," General Jones said. "Unfortunately, on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, he boarded the plane at Reagan National Airport that was flown into the Pentagon.

"It was very unfortunate that this young man lost his life, but we thought he should not lose his life in vain," he said.

The scholarship program invites young people representing all services, both active duty and activated Guard and Reserve units, to present an essay to the education coalition telling why they would like to go to space camp, General Jones said.

"They talk about patriotism, community service, their future goals and what they will do with the information that they learn while at space camp," he said. "If you could read some of the letters from these young people you could not help but to be impressed. We promote this as a life-altering experience, and it truly is."

In space camp, students get an opportunity to meet and interact with astronauts, people who have actually been in space, General Jones said.

"They have a chance to study science projects and physics that are used in putting people in space," he said. "They also have a chance to participate and operate space simulators where they can feel weightlessness. It's a combination of meeting people, seeing science and technology, and experiencing actual feelings that astronauts sometimes feel when they're in a space flight.

"I'd like to encourage people to support the project. The more support we have, the more kids we can impact," he said.