Summer Enrichment program to open doors to high school students


While many high school students may be spending their summers playing video games, relaxing with their favorite music or riding roller coasters, a select group of Arizona high schoolers will actually be creating animation for games, designing and building roller coasters, and learning about the connections between psychology and music.

More than 400 ninth- through 12th-grade students from throughout Arizona are expected to participate in the third year of Summer Enrichment sponsored by the Collegiate Scholars Program at Arizona State University.  It offers students an opportunity to experience university-level classes in non-credit workshops and helps connect students early to ASU.

The programs are attracting students from public, private, charter and home schools, as well as the Navajo and San Carlos reservations, according to Mark Duplissis, executive director of high school relations in Educational Outreach and Student Services (EOSS).

“In our inaugural year, we had two classes offered at ASU’s Polytechnic and West campuses,” Duplissis said. “Now in our third year, we have 32 classes being offered at four ASU campuses and Skysong, and the classes are filling up.”

Starting June 6 through July 13, classes (ranging from two days to one week) and at least one residential class will be offered. Students are choosing from options in writing, digital photography, game and cartoon animation, an engineering symposium for women, roller coaster design, engineering design, psychology and music, medical camp, mathematics, law, and crime scene investigations.

“For students who want to be teachers, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College is offering a one-week residential program called Hunnicutt Future Educators Academy which allows students to live on campus during the summer,” Duplissis said.

Faculty from numerous colleges and academic units, including the College of Technology and Innovation, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, College of Nursing and Health Innovation and the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College have collaborated to offer these courses.

“The medical camp, for example, has one of the higher enrollment numbers with 50 students, and it brings together faculty from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the College of Nursing and Health Innovation,” Duplissis said. “For a small fee, it’s a great opportunity for students who are interested in becoming doctors, nurses or veterinarians to gain an overview of a particular academic area.”

Summer Enrichment is still enrolling for summer 2011. To enroll or for more information about the Collegiate Scholars Program or the Summer Enrichment courses, visit http://promise.asu.edu/csp/summerprograms.

Steve Perez
Sr. Coordinator
Strategic Marketing & Communication
480-965-6753