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Museum of Flight Awards Fourteen Post-Secondary Scholarships to Seattle Area Teens

SEATTLE – The Museum of Flight’s Boeing Academy for STEM Learning annual scholarship program awarded $314,500 in scholarships to 12 Seattle area high school students this past week.

The 2019 scholarships include two post-secondary scholarships of $29,500 per year for four years for recipients to pursue a STEM degree that is directly connected to aviation and aerospace; $10,000 awards, each to be put toward earning a Private Pilot license; and four $1,000 awards to be used to offset college expenses. The Museum’s annual scholarships are made possible through generous endowments established by Jim and Sue Johnson, Alaska Airlines, and the Estate of Frank “Sam” and Betty Houston.

The Awards
The students were overjoyed at the announcement. Siu Teulilo, a junior at Todd Beamer High School and a recipient of a $10,000 Frank and Betty Houston Flight Training Scholarship remarked: “I believe that this scholarship will help me become a role model to younger girls from my area that they can change for the better. I want to show them that there is more than fashion and makeup, there is more than just working for minimum wage. I want them to go beyond the limitations they feel are holding them back. I want to show young minority girls, who want to succeed, that they can do what they put their minds to. Flying is not only a passion but an example to other young minority girls that the sky is not the limit.”

A complete list of the recipients follows:
Alexandria Hennessey-Johnson and Nick Tran were each awarded the Frank and Betty Houston Post-Secondary Aviation Education Scholarship in the amount of $29,500 annually for four years.

Hennessey-Johnson, a high school senior, was homeschooled and participated in the Museum’s Aeronautical Science Pathway program, which led to participation in Running Start at Green River College this year. She also was awarded a Steve and Hazel Eastman Scholarship of $1,000 toward college expenses.

Nick Tran, a senior at Raisbeck Aviation High School, was also awarded a $10,000 Frank and Betty Houston Flight Training Scholarship to be used toward a Private Pilot license.

Gracie Still, Mari Beltran, Siu Teulilo, John Dulski, Rafael Urrea, Nick Tran and Omar Madhani were each awarded a $10,000 Frank and Betty Houston Flight Training Scholarship to be used toward a Private Pilot license with the Frank and Betty Houston Flight Training Scholarship. Still is a Junior at Kennedy Catholic High School; Beltran is a Senior at Lindbergh High School; Dulski and Tran are Seniors at Raisbeck Aviation High School; Madhani is a sophomore at Sammamish High School and Teulilo is a junior at Todd Beamer High School.

Rafael Urrea was awarded the $10,000 Alaska Airlines Flight Training Scholarship in honor of former Alaska Airlines President/CEO Bill Ayer to pursue a Private Pilot license. Urrea is junior at Raisbeck Aviation High School.

Raisbeck Aviation High School senior Sydney Brusnighan was awarded the Jim and Sue Johnson Scholarship of $18,000 ($4,500 per year) to pursue post-secondary studies at University of Washington.

Raisbeck Aviation High School seniors Natalia Lyon and Micah Larsen were each awarded $1,000 Stuart Knopp Memorial Scholarships to be used toward college expenses.

Timberline High School senior Noelle Geddis was awarded a $1,000 Steve and Hazel Eastman Scholarship for college expenses; Natalia Lyon will go to Embry Riddle; Noelle Geddis will go to Arizona State University this fall to study aerospace engineering and Micah Larsen will go to Purdue University to study mechanical engineering.

The Boeing Academy for STEM Learning
The Boeing Academy for STEM Learning at the Museum of Flight is the largest educational department among air and space museums worldwide. The Academy offers a wide variety of unique programs to educators and students in grades K-12 and college. Students may engage in a flight, engineering, and/or space pathway and ultimately earn an education credential that recognizes their achievements and commitment to pursuing a STEM career. The Academy awarded over $314,000 in student scholarships in 2019.

For Museum information, please call 206-764-5720 or visit www.museumofflight.org

Students in the Museum’s Aeronautical Science Pathway program learning piloting skills in the facility’s flight simulator lab. Ted Huetter/The Museum of Flight.