By Eric Nickols
Round Table reporter

Middletown High School juniors are receiving word if they were accepted into Fort Detrick’s intern programs these past few weeks. Juniors had the option to apply for the National Cancer Institute (NCI) or United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMARIID) science program at Fort Detrick.

Middletown High School will have many students participating in these programs come the 2011- 2012 school year. Students who were accepted into their desired program will begin their experiences in June 2011 and continue for a half-day session during the 2011-2012 school years.

Students who applied for the USAMARIID program have already received word if they have been accepted, while NCI applicants still have to wait just a few more days for the news.

Requirements to be eligible for this opportunity include two successfully earned credits in science and mathematics, all with grades B or higher, must be sixteen years of age or older, and have an overall, unweighted grade point average of 3.0 or higher.

MHS junior Jake Kirkwood, who applied for the NCI program, said “Getting the entire requirement done was a little difficult but I’m pretty confident in my self.”

Over the summer, students receive payment for their work in the lab, the amount of these payments depends upon which program the student interns for.

MHS junior Nick Walker applied for these internship program opportunities and was accepted to enter the USAMRIID program. Walker said “The internship program is a great opportunity to get your name out there and looks great on a college application… and the money is nice too.”