Cove 8th grader Corban McNeil invited to STEM program at Rice University, will hear from former NASA Astronauts
By Shannon Weidemann (McKone) on Thursday, May 1st, 2025 in Featured Stories More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
COVE– 8th Grader Corban McNeil of Cove will soon embark on the trip of a lifetime. Recently, Corban was invited to attend a robotics program at Rice University in Houston, Texas, where he will spend a week in a robotics program.
This National Youth Leadership Forum: Explore STEM is described as “a unique learning experience for bright, forward-thinking middle school students—the next generation of innovators, roboticists, engineers, doctors, forensic scientists, mathematicians, and physicists.”
This experience allows students to take part in hands-on learning through simulations, workshops and competitions.
When asked what he is looking forward to the most during this trip, McNeil said he is excited about the social aspect of it and meeting astronauts, noting that meeting them is on his bucket list.
McNeil is involved with the robotics program at Cove Middle School, recently attending state competition in Portland, OR.
McNeil is already making great strides in math and science, as noted in a letter of recognition by Lisa Murchison, Advanced Math Teacher and Guidance Counselor at Cove High School. In the letter, Murchison shared how, as a 7th Grader last year, Corban participated in an annual Pi Day event where “students compete to see how many digits of Pi they can memorize. He incredibly got 200 digits correct, beating the next competitor by over 50 digits.”
You can see the full letter below.
McNeil has also started his own YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/@TheLinearHigh_15036 where he highlights and teaches about the things that he and his classmates are building. McNeil says he enjoys robotics because of the satisfaction of completing and solving a project. He also says that competing is fun!
In his free time, McNeil is learning several new languages including Spanish, German, Russian, and Japanese.
While McNeil is excited about this opportunity to attend the program at Rice University in July 2025, it does come at a cost. Those wishing to support him on this educational journey can do so at https://give.envisionexperience.com/hcMwrAVM7h
Learn more about the National Youth Leadership Forum program at https://www.envisionexperience.com/explore-our-programs/national-youth-leadership-forum-explore-stem?_gl=1*178mzi*_gcl_au*MjQ4NTk4NTAyLjE3NDYwMTkwMDA.
