PARK RIDGE, Illinois USA — Two Maine South High School juniors, just back from launching a high power model rocket for NASA's Student Launch Initiative in Huntsville, Ala., will spend the summer working directly with NASA scientists and engineers as part of a special internship program.

Ken Johnson and Michael Williamson of Park Ridge were selected to take part in NASA's INSPIRE (Interdisciplinary National Science Program Incorporating Research and Education Experience) program at Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. As paid interns, the teens will work on tasks geared toward encouraging them to pursue advanced education in science, technology, engineering and math. They will reside at the at the NASA facility for eight weeks.

Johnson and Williamson, along with Mike Cinquino of Hoffman Estates and A.J. Witzke of Wheeling, are members of the St. Andrews Rocket Team which built and launched a 10 ft. rocket nearly one mile into the sky at the Marshall Space Center in Huntsville on April 26. According to team leader Len Johnson, the team had the longest rocket with the largest motor out of all 18 schools that participated. St. Andrews also had the closest recovery to their launch pad, Johnson said.

In addition to writing their final report on the launch, the team members participated in the Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC) National Finals in The Plains, Va., taking 25th place in the nation. Seven-hundred teams consisting of approximately 7,000 high school students from 40 states competed in the national finals for scholarships totaling $60,000.

Copyright © 2008, Park Ridge Herald-Advocate.