Reach Beyond the Stars―SPHS Grad Lands NASA Internship in Houston

By Hannah G. Morris, Reporter

San Pedro High School class of 2026 graduate, Jurnee Weaver, a STEAM Magnet student, will be working as an intern with NASA in Houston, Texas, this summer. Weaver graduated with National Honor Society recognition and spoke at the graduation ceremony on June 9.

Passionate about the STEM field, Weaver expressed interest in aerospace engineering, computer science, and 3D modeling, noting that her NASA internship is “mostly related to simulations and 3D modeling” and aligns with her career goals. This fall, Weaver will study aerospace engineering at the University of Southern California.

In her graduation ceremony speech, Weaver said to her fellow graduates, “We know that with courage, hard work, vigor, perseverance, and determination, we can reach beyond the stars.”

As the child of a military veteran mother, Weaver has long been engaged in military-related community service. She recalled making Easter baskets for military children, among other service activities. In 2023, Weaver was the first teenager to speak at a Women’s History Month event on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., hosted by the Women Veterans Public Policy Caucus.

Regarding her graduation ceremony speech, Weaver expressed gratitude for her past public speaking opportunities, as well as her participation in the Academic Decathlon representing San Pedro High School, a district, state, and national level competition that includes public speaking. Weaver said that the background provided a “comforting” environment for practicing public speaking.

Weaver also noted that the classes and STEM projects offered in the STEAM Magnet, such as Rock the Project, which partially involves presentations and speeches, “really helped prepare for going up into fields related to sciences and engineering.” She added that she especially enjoyed her math and computer science classes.

When asked about advice she would give STEM-aspiring students, Weaver said that if students come “with one goal in mind, you have something that makes you push on, that makes you work harder [and] really want to continue….” She added that her own goal was, mostly, to “expand [her] knowledge of aerospace engineering.”

Weaver looks up to women such as former NASA employees Katherine Johnson and Mae Jemison and aspires to work for NASA in her future. In summer 2025, she had the opportunity to attend a summer program with NASA in Houston and see the construction of Artemis, which is part of an ongoing initiative to return humans to the moon and build a path to Mars.

“I’m quite excited for where life’s gonna take me,” Weaver said.