The sky isn’t the limit: CSF-Tacoma Scholars visit Blue Origin to learn about careers in the space industry

Sixty CSF-Tacoma Scholars from Foss, Lincoln and Silas High Schools recently spent a very full and exciting day at the Blue Origin headquarters in Kent, Washington. This unique career exploration event originated with Blue Origin’s Talent Acquisition team in collaboration with their nonprofit Club for the Future. 

The visit was developed to inspire students to pursue higher education in STEM-related fields and for students to hear first-hand from employees about their higher education journeys and how they landed in their careers at Blue Origin. Students also participated in hands-on activities including sending notecards to space and building rocket parachutes. Students tested their parachutes by attaching them to the crew capsule stress balls and dropping them from the stage.

Career-connected experiences start in middle school for CSF Scholars and continue through 12th grade. The importance of students touring local companies, much like visiting college campuses, cannot be understated for students who are first-gen or from low-socioeconomic backgrounds. For students to visualize themselves working in a STEM or aerospace career can inspire them to establish plans for their own higher education journey and eventual career goals.

“For underrepresented students, a visit to Blue Origin is a golden opportunity to see how a company in our backyard can expand into something so out of this world,” observed Senait Habte, CSF-Tacoma’s Executive Director. “For our students, a day like today has the potential to spark ‘aha’ moments that can set dreams in motion.”

Thank you, Blue Origin and Club for the Future for giving CSF Scholars the chance to aspire to new heights, and learn about advanced subjects and ideas. We appreciated the opportunity to provide our students the opportunity to get excited about the future of aerospace and potential careers in STEM.

A special thank you to Blue Origin’s Talent Acquisition team. And, to the Career Talk panelists and other staff for creating such a memorable experience for our students.