On Sept. 28, 47 students, teachers and staff from Pahrump Valley High School’s GEAR UP Program experienced a special tour of the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS).
The tour, initiated by a Nevada Site Specific Advisory Board member representing Pahrump, focused on science at the NNSS. Participants visited the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Core Library in Mercury which houses more than 2 million linear feet of geologic cuttings and drilling cores, some that were retrieved from thousands of feet below the earth’s surface. Tour participants were provided a hands-on opportunity to learn about the geologic cores and examined a few up close using a microscope. The real-life lessons in science continued at the Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Complex and U1a with discussions by scientists and other professionals with the Department of Energy’s Environmental Management Program in Nevada and the JASPER program, along with the tour’s historian (a Los Alamos National Laboratory retiree).
And it wasn’t only the science that piqued the interest of participants. The NNSS tour team brought history to life during stops at Frenchman Flat, Icecap, and Sedan Crater.
But it was the personal challenges and advice on never giving up on higher education and achieving success that resonated most with the GEAR UP students. The result of the team’s efforts are expressed best by Lisa Hamrick, GEAR UP Site Representative for Pahrump Valley High School, when she said “ … you provided our young adults with real life lessons that will influence and support their futures. You will never fully understand the impact that you had on our students … the tour exceeded our expectations in all aspects and touched the lives of the Nevada young adults who attended!”
