Hundreds of high school and middle school kids called Union home this summer, as they took advantage of studies and programs they couldn't find at home. And here, they got a taste of college.
Union was one of nineteen campuses around the country chosen by the Center for Talented Youth, a national program run by Johns Hopkins University, to house its six-week summer program. It was also the site of Big Brothers and Big Sisters Camp, Robot Camp, Summer Science Workshop, and Camp College.
Here's a taste of what went on:
Center for Talented Youth
Taking a semester's worth of work in three weeks? Not the average undergraduate's idea of a fun summer. But then, these kids weren't undergraduates, and they certainly weren't average.
In all, more than 600 of the brightest high school students converged at Union for the two three-week sessions. The Center for Talented Youth (CTY), now twenty-one years old, caters to kids who are gifted and really want to learn. In their own classrooms, these kids are often the brightest in class (students qualify by scoring in the ninety-seventh percentile on the SAT), but here they are one of the group. As one of the students said, “I come here so I can be average.”
Cindy Ragland, CTY site director, headed a staff of eighty-eight, an instructor and a teaching assistant for each class (twenty-three classes in the first session, twenty-one in the second), resident assistants who lived in the dorm and ran activities, and an administrative staff of twelve. “They're watched over closely,” Ragland said. “Because we have some kids age twelve, the rules are set for the youngest members.”
She said that many of the students are multi-talented. “A number are in competitive sports, are extraordinary musicians, or are already being paid to design web pages.” Because they're so bright, they're often socially isolated, and this could be their first time among real peers. So, in addition to an array of classes that included politics, ethics, etymology, existentialism, math, astronomy, biology, chemistry, and physics, there was time for swimming, swing dancing, and other activities.
Faculty and staff are drawn from all over the U.S. and abroad, and fifteen-hour days, seven days a week, is the rule. So why take this on? Ragland, who is on the English faculty at Central Connecticut State University, has been involved in the program since 1989. “It's very intense, but people really believe in the program. Some staff members were involved as kids in CTY and came back. When you see how much impact the program is having, there are visible effects almost immediately, it's infectious.”
Added CTY spokesman Charles Beckman, “These are kids who've exhausted all the academic options available to them in their schools. They're really hungry for more academic experiences.”
Seyfollah Maleki, associate professor and chair of the Physics Department, gave a group of the students a tour of some of Union's research facilities. “It was great talking to them!” he says, “They actually listened to the physics and were full of questions, even a full hour after I showed them our particle accelerator and laser labs.”
Big Brothers, Big Sisters
Big Brothers, Big Sisters Camp has been meeting on campus for the past four summers. Run by Union students, the camp is for kids mostly from low-income, single-parent homes, for whom traditional camp is not an option. The camp means that Union's Big Brothers, Big Sisters program is now year round. During the academic year, eighty Union students (“bigs”) are actively involved, and many alumni have stayed in touch with their “littles.”
Camp College
In August, Kelly Herrington, associate dean of admissions, shepherded the new two-day Camp College program, which was attended by sixty students and chaperones from sponsoring organizations. The chaperones, who are teachers, ministers, and staff members from nonprofit organizations, learned alongside the students about the college admissions process and the college experience. Guidance and admissions counselors from around the state volunteered their time and expertise.
Summer Science Workshop
Two dozen budding scientists did college-level work through the Summer Science Workshop, which was led by Karen Williams, associate dean for undergraduate education and associate professor of biology. High school juniors and seniors who show promise in the sciences were exposed to two weeks of college-level classroom and laboratory study as well as career guidance in the health professions and scientific research. This year, under the heading of AIDS and HIV, the students covered three units, computer technology, immunology, and cell biology. Each team of students wrote and delivered a paper in one of these fields.
Robot Camp
Fifteen area teens honed their programmable robots to take on an obstacle course, and one another, in a July competition. The competitors were three-wheel drive automatons, about the size of a small shoebox, built and programmed in a summer camp for aspiring robotics engineers. The competition featured a maze and obstacle course presented to the students shortly before the first round.
The young engineers had a short time to program their robots for the course. Part NASCAR race and part learning experience, the competition capped a weeklong experience now in its fourth year. Robot Day Camp is an offshoot of Union's Robot Club, whose members have competed in international competitions in France and Turkey; some have also served as counselors for the camp.
Professors Linda Almstead of the Computer Science Depart-ment and Cherrice Traver of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department were directors.
All of these programs have been a boon to the college's recruitment effort. Many students who've taken part have gone on to enroll at Union (like fourteen-year-old Jackson Reed, a CTY alumnus who then took courses here and is now a full-time undergraduate). And, perhaps not surprisingly, a good number have gone on to become staff members in the very programs that first brought them to Union.