North metro students' field trip to take them to nation's capital

Four north metro students will get an opportunity to broaden their horizons this week in Washington as part of the Honeywell Scholars Presidential Classroom program.

Katie Larson of Andover, Jeremy Weed of Forest Lake, Jenny Kaczynski of St. Paul and Kayla Langen of Crystal will be among 17 metro area students in the group of more than 400 Honeywell scholars in the nation's capital to learn firsthand about how science, technology and public policy interact.

During the program, students observe the U.S. Congress in action, visit sites such as the U.S. Supreme Court, and discuss world issues with presidential appointees and military personnel, business leaders and others. Students will also attend a presentation by Eileen Collins, the first female space shuttle commander. They'll also visit spots including the National Academy of Sciences, Honeywell facilities at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.

"They're really getting a behind-the-scenes look at the intersection between science, technology and public policy," said Lisa Mata, a program coordinator for Honeywell.

Larson, a 16-year-old sophomore at Anoka High School, said it was no surprise that she was interested in the program, being that she comes from a family of engineers and that both of her parents work for Honeywell.

"Growing up with engineer parents and that sort of background, I guess I've just always been interested in the sciences and math," she said.

Larson, who currently volunteers at an area hospital, said she hopes to one day work in the medical field -- diabetes research particularly interests her because she has had the disease for the past five years.

Weed, who also participates on his school's debate team and student congress, said he would like to major in a science discipline in college, but isn't sure which one yet.

While both students have to forfeit a week of classes to make the trip, the benefits outweigh any negatives of time missed, said Dan Larson, Katie Larson's chemistry teacher at Anoka High School.

"It's real easy to get bogged down in our narrow area of focus and lose track of the world around us," he said. "You can't really duplicate this kind of thing in the classroom, so overall, I think it's worth it."

They will be joined by two other north metro teens, Langen, who attends Robbinsdale Cooper High School, and Kaczynski, who attends Mounds View High School -- as well as students from around the world. Students from as far away as Germany, Zimbabwe, China, India and South Korea compete for the scholarships, Mata said. Students have to include their class ranking, extracurricular activities and a short essay in their application to the program.

"It's truly an international program," Mata said. "It really reaches out."

"It's just going to be so awesome to meet all these new people with so much in common and get to share our ideas," Larson said. "Basically, it's the people. I'm just really looking forward to that."