SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY AND A&M COLLEGE IN BATON ROUGE HAS ESTABLISHED A NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION NEXT GENERATION COMPOSITES CREST CENTER (NEXTGENC3) WITH A STRATEGY TO BRING ABOUT ADVANCEMENTS IN THE AREAS OF COMPOSITE MATERIALS AND ENGINEERING AND EDUCATION. SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY AND A&M COLLEGE, A PUBLICLY SUPPORTED, COEDUCATIONAL, LAND-GRANT, HISTORICALLY BLACK, COMPREHENSIVE INSTITUTION, PREPARES STUDENTS TO COMPETE GLOBALLY IN THEIR RESPECTIVE PROFESSIONS, AND ENGAGE IN ADVANCED STUDY IN GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS. THE UNIVERSITY MEETS THE CHANGING DEMANDS OF A GLOBAL SOCIETY AND PROVIDES QUALITY ACCREDITED ACADEMIC PROGRAMS. THE MISSION OF THE NEXT GENERATION COMPOSITES CREST CENTER, NEXTGENC3, AT SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTEGRATED AND PIONEERING RESEARCH BASED ON NEXT GENERATION COMPOSITES TO PROVIDE STUDENTS TRADITIONALLY UNDERREPRESENTED IN THE SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICS (STEM) FIELDS WITH EXCELLENT EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES. ONE OF THE GOALS IS TO PROVIDE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH INTEGRATION AND EXPOSURE TO STUDENTS FROM K-12 TO DOCTORAL LEVEL. THEREFORE, IT IS A PRIORITY FOR THE CENTER TO BE ABLE TO USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO ORGANIZE A TOUR OF 32 STUDENTS, RANGING FROM 6TH GRADE TO SENIORS IN HIGH SCHOOL. AS ADVANCED COMPOSITE MATERIALS ARE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE, THE CENTER WILL BENEFIT TO ATTRACT SOME OF THE TOURING STUDENTS INTO ITS PROGRAM WHEN THEY GO TO COLLEGE. NEXTGENC3 WILL FOLLOW UP WITH THE STUDENTS AND CONTINUE TO ENCOURAGE THEM TO STUDY SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING BY PAIRING PARTICIPANTS WITH GRADUATE STUDENTS AND RESEARCHERS WHILE IN MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL THROUGH ACTIVITIES PLANNED BY THE CREST CENTER. THE EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEM (EBRPSS) PROVIDES STUDENTS WITH A NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED ENGINEERING CURRICULUM, PROJECT LEAD THE WAY (PL TW). THE EBRPSS HAS OVER 30 MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS, HOWEVER THE PL TW CURRICULUM IS ONLY OFFERED AT TWO PREDOMINANTLY AFRICAN AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS WHERE STUDENTS WILL BE SELECTED FROM FOR THIS NASA FORUM. THE SCHOOLS ARE SCOTLANDVILLE MIDDLE PRE-ENGINEERING ACADEMY AND SCOTLANDVILLE MAGNET HIGH SCHOOL. STUDENTS ENROLLED IN EITHER OF THESE TWO ENGINEERING PROGRAMS WILL BE SOLICITED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE 2010 NASA SUMMER MINORITY STUDENT EDUCATION FORUM AT THE KENNEDY SPACE CENTER IN FLORIDA. AN EFFICIENT SELECTION METHOD WILL BE IMPLEMENTED TO CHOOSE THOSE STUDENTS WITH STRONG INTEREST IN ENGINEERING. THE CENTER PLANS THAT TO PARTICIPATE WITH OTHER NASA EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES TO BENEFIT THESE AND OTHER STUDENTS IN THE FUTURE.