Sugar Land student combines passion for science, journalism

By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM

Shaivi Moparthi is a young girl with a lot on her plate.

The 13-year-old Sugar Land resident has strong interests in both STEM education and journalism. A middle-schooler at the private Kinkaid School in Piney Point has long been interested in writing, and is the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, the Talon Times.

Some people might think that's accomplishment enough. But Moparthi has gone a bit farther. Last year, she applied for and was accepted as at TIME for Kids reporter, writing for the newsmagazine's content for young readers. The year-long assignment has already given her quite a bit of stories. Her first was an interview with Vanessa E. Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

In the interview (available at timeforkids.com/your-hotjob), Moparthi asks Wyche, the first Black woman director of the facility, about her career path, about NASA's plans to again send astronauts to the Moon (including the first woman the first person of color to achieve that milestone), and the need for young people to pursue STEM fields, something that's near to her heart as a self-described "aspiring scientist."

"It was my dream interview," she says.

But she's not done there.

In one of her upcoming assignments, she will be interviewing the renowned

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