SEATTLE — For more than 40 years The Museum of Flight’s annual Pathfinder Awards have honored Northwest visionaries who have made significant contributions to the development of the aerospace industry.
What many may not know is that four key members of the creative team for the 2023 Pathfinder Awards Banquet were high school students, including Shorecrest High School student Brendon Rudberg, Ballard High School student Ryder Waltmire, plus Max Watt and Nour Khalifa from Raisbeck Aviation High School.
According to Pathfinder Awards co-chair Steve Taylor, the interns and their contributions to the program were “amazing.”
Students from Raisbeck Aviation High School have been a part of the Pathfinder Intern program since it began in 2011, museum officials said, noting the museum has since opened the internship to students from other high schools while they are enrolled in museum education programs.
Waltmire is a student in the museum’s Aeronautical Science Pathway program, Rudberg was in the museum’s 2023 Washington Aerospace Scholars program, and Watt was a participant in the museum’s 2023 Private Pilot Ground School program.
The 2023 Pathfinder Awards Banquet on Oct. 28 honored Blue Origin spaceflight engineer Gary Lai and retired Boeing president Ray Conner. The format of the Pathfinder event centers upon “fireside chats” with an emcee and an honoree that look back upon the Pathfinder’s accomplishments.
Despite casual appearances, the conversations are based upon well-researched scripts created by the Pathfinder interns, museum officials reports.
Lai and Conner were interviewed extensively by the interns to write their biographies for The Museum of Flight’s magazine, “Aloft,” and for developing a script for the awards banquet.
Waltmire even toured the Blue Origin facility with Lai to learn more about his professional world.
The interns were engaged in the Pathfinder program for about six months, culminating with the Pathfinder Awards Banquet.
“The Museum’s Pathfinder Intern program has given dozens of high school students the rare opportunity to personally engage with some of the most recognized leaders in aviation and space including Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Col. Joe Jackson and entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, and to be creative force in a major event at The Museum of Flight,” museum officials said.