By Lisa Capobianco Staff Writer When Abbie Barbour of Kennedy Middle School heard about the 2014 Summer Institute in Science, Technology, Engineering and Research (SISTER) Program at Goddard Space Flight Center, she jumped at the opportunity of a lifetime. An incoming eighth grader, she recently spent a week at the flight center in Maryland meeting engineers, astrophysicists, and other women of NASA who encourage girls like Abbie to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Abbie said her science teacher Pamela Pepin inspired her to apply for the program this past school year. The SISTER program is a five-day summer program with the goal of increasing awareness of and offering hands-on experiences for middle school girls to explore STEM education and career areas. “I’m interested in astrophysics,” said Abbie, who also participated in a STEM-related program at Central Connecticut State University this past year. “I’ve always been fascinated with space.” From Monday, July 14 to Friday, July 18, Abbie and 40 other girls from other parts of the U.S. took part in a variety of activities at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, which serves as the home of the nation’s largest organization of combined scientists, engineers and technologists [...]
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