NCI at Frederick’s newest student interns smiled for a group photo outside the Advanced Technology Research Facility. Forty-eight young faces stared at the camera, looking excited but slightly overwhelmed. Later that same evening, the students took part in the Incoming Ceremony, the official start to what many in the past have considered one of the most meaningful journeys of their lives.

Summer is here, and that means the return of two popular events from the Scientific Library: the Summer Video Series and the Student Science Jeopardy! Tournament.

With the school year nearly over, classes are the last thing that many students want to think about—but not at NCI at Frederick and the Frederick National Laboratory. Here, Werner H. Kirsten (WHK) student interns Emme Tissue and Esteban Garcia aren’t just contemplating class, they’re teaching them. On May 23, now recognized as National Stop the Bleed Day, the two high school seniors led a Stop the Bleed training course for nearly a dozen employees at the Frederick National Laboratory’s Vaccine Pilot Plant.

This week, Werner H. Kirsten student interns Emme Tissue and Esteban Garcia are launching a training course that could mean the difference between life and death. The duo will teach a class on halting uncontrolled bleeding in individuals who have experienced traumatic injuries such as gunshot wounds or major lacerations.

It’s half an hour to showtime in the spacious, sun-filled atrium. Glance upward and you can’t miss the painted five-foot-tall black paw print and the inscription “Panther Pride” along the open staircase’s tallest yellow wall. Clustered around the lobby, 20 presenters are steeling their nerves as best they can: pacing, fidgeting, rehearsing. Pressure to perform aside, it’s a decidedly casual event, evidenced by several shoelaces that need tying.