NASA to Host Hispanic Youth Conference Oct. 2-3, 2008

What: NASA will bring more than 120 Alabama high school students to Huntsville, Ala., Oct. 2-3 to participate in the seventh annual NASA Hispanic Youth Conference. The two-day cultural and motivational workshop will include seminars and activities designed to inspire Hispanic young people to complete their high school education and pursue college careers, primarily in math, science and engineering. These fields of study are cornerstones of the nation’s economic success — and of NASA’s continuing mission of exploration and discovery.

The 2008 youth conference theme is “Getting Involved: Our Families, Our Community, Our Nation.” The event is sponsored by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville; the “Mi Futuro” (My Future) programs at Miles College in Birmingham, Ala., and Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Ala.; and the North Central Alabama Boy Scouts of America. Participating high school students will have the opportunity to meet NASA and Marshall Center representatives and state leaders.

Who/When:

On Thursday, Oct. 2, there will be a banquet at 7 p.m. Rafaela Schwan, director of programs and external affairs for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers — a social-technical organization that works to encourage the potential of Hispanics in the fields of engineering, math and science — will speak to the students at 8 p.m. Workshops will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 3.

Where:

Activities on Oct. 2 will be held at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, One Tranquility Base. Activities on Oct. 3 will be held at the University of Alabama in Huntsville’s Tom Bevill Center, 301 Sparkman Drive.

To attend:

News media interested in covering the conference should contact Betty Humphery in the Marshall Public & Employee Communications Office at 256-544-0034 no later than 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 1.

For supporting materials for this news release – such as photographs, fact sheets, video and audio files and more – please visit the NASA Marshall Center Newsroom Web site at

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