September 14, 2023 - Kason Parker completed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Texas High School Aerospace Scholars (HAS) 2022-2023 online and virtual summer experience with NASA’s Johnson Space Center. HAS is a 16-week online interactive learning experience, culminating in a five-day virtual summer project-based learning experience for high-achieving students. Teams of students utilized a systems engineering model to plan a mission to the Moon and create a preliminary design review proposing their approach through the NASA Artemis-themed course. During the experience, students received guidance from NASA scientists, engineers, interns, and certified Texas teachers.
Students are nominated to participate in HAS by their state legislators and complete the prerequisite online course before receiving an invitation to participate in the team-based virtual summer experience. The online course consists of four distance-learning modules developed by certified teachers, aligned to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), and conducted October 27, 2022 - February 28, 2023. The space exploration themed course focuses on particular topics to prepare the scholars for the virtual summer experience with NASA scientists and engineers. The course is structured into four modules: Getting There, Discovering There, Living There, and Working There. Each module is divided into four content sections: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Each section contains reading, multimedia content, discussion posts, short quizzes, and assignments graded by a certified Texas teacher.
Kason is the son of Kevin and Sonya Parker. He is currently a Senior at Shelbyville High School. After graduation he plans to attend Texas A&M or Rice University to study engineering.
