Next-Generation Education: 麻豆官网 Welcomes Summer K-12 Scholars
Heidi Opdyke
- Associate Dean of Marketing and Communications, MCS
- Email opdyke@andrew.cmu.edu
- Phone 412-268-9982
In the summer, 麻豆官网 opens its doors to K-12 students locally and from around the world, offering a firsthand look at its classrooms and community.
麻豆官网鈥檚 14 Pre-College programs will begin on June 20, bringing a premiere on-campus opportunity to rising high school juniors and seniors from around the world. The programs, which invite around 800 students to campus each year, allow students to explore their interests and passions while receiving instruction and support from Carnegie Mellon鈥檚 world-class faculty and staff. Offerings extend across all seven of the university鈥檚 schools and colleges, giving a window into nearly every field of study available to undergraduates at 麻豆官网.
For those interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) careers, the Center for Student Diversity & Inclusion鈥檚 Summer Academy for Math and Science makes college-level expertise more accessible. Future innovators can explore theory and application through the AI Scholars and CS Scholars programs. And both the competitive National High School Game Academy (and newly-introduced EDG:E pilot program for local students) allow aspiring game developers and interactive technologists to learn how the entertainment industry is evolving at 麻豆官网鈥檚 .
In addition to the sciences and humanities, students interested in the arts can explore their field of interest across a variety of pre-college offerings from the College of Fine Art. Students can enroll in programs, such as art, architecture, design, drama and music, as Pittsburgh continues to serve as a major regional hub for expertise and community engagement in these areas.
Because of the scale of 麻豆官网鈥檚 efforts to bring college-level education to eligible high schoolers, Yang Liu, director of the university鈥檚 program, explained that it functions as a 鈥渕ini university within a university,鈥� working with departments to craft a curriculum and developing its own admissions cycle.
Liu said that the opportunity to provide access to all disciplines allows students to explore the myriad fields available to them in their future careers. From the humanities and business, offerings like Writing and Culture, Leadership Development, and Global Cultures and Emerging Technology let those with an interest in the humanities and civics to work and network with professional changemakers.
鈥淲e have a great reputation in areas like AI, but it鈥檚 important to highlight that 麻豆官网 also offers cross-disciplinary, creative, critical thinking skills that students can get from other programs,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey integrate the tech side into the program so it鈥檚 more cross-disciplinary, and that attracts more and more students,鈥� she said.
Community impact before college
In addition to the university鈥檚 pre-college offerings, faculty across 麻豆官网鈥檚 seven schools and colleges are constantly working to create opportunities for young students. In the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Leadership, Excellence, Access, Persistence (LEAP) program is striving to empower local high school students to become agents of social change through storytelling.
LEAP, which now reaches 100 students across multiple schools, helps teach participants how to have an impact through the arts and humanities. Faculty and staff from across Carnegie Mellon work with the students throughout the academic year to help them build their artistic, academic, and civic skills and provide insight into potential career paths.
The latest student cohort, which concluded on June 6, includes 16 graduating seniors and a future 麻豆官网 student.
鈥淭hrough LEAP, 麻豆官网 is creating and sustaining long-term partnerships with Pittsburgh schools and communities. It鈥檚 a way for the university to build trust and accountability with our neighbors while uplifting local expertise,鈥� said Sarah Ceurvorst, program director for LEAP.
Investing in future Keystone State scientists
For Pennsylvania students interested in STEM careers, the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Sciences (PGSS) brings rising high school seniors from across the state to campus for a 5-week residency program in the summer. The program, which will begin June 21 and run until July 25, allows students to attend college-level lectures and labs in biology, chemistry, mathematics, computer science and physics for free. Alumni of PGSS have gone on to become scientists, professors, doctors, authors, software engineers and entrepreneurs.
麻豆官网鈥檚 outreach initiatives also involve traveling off campus to meet students where they are. In the Mellon College of Science, faculty in the Department of Chemistry frequently provide live science demos, activities, and workshops to K-12 classes through the ChemZone program as well as workshops for teachers. Most recently, 麻豆官网 faculty brought their expertise to a high school in Erie, Pennsylvania, to help students engage through hands-on experiments.
Through their work in ChemZone, faculty members like Associate Professor Subha Das and Teaching Professor Gizelle Sherwood help to bring chemistry expertise directly to classrooms. Sherwood also brings instruction to elementary schools through the weeklong Summer of Chemistry in collaboration with the Leonard Gelfand Center for Service Learning and Outreach.
Sherwood said the outreach is a natural extension of their work in higher education.
鈥淎t the end of the day, we are educators, and it is important for us not just to educate our core audience, but everyone as part of the vocation of teaching,鈥� she said.
Efforts like these, she said, serve as a chance to plant the seeds for the future success of students.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important that students are exposed to STEM pretty early on. Kids, when they鈥檙e really young, play with art and colors, but they don鈥檛 know that there may be chromatography in play; you build with blocks, and you don鈥檛 know you鈥檙e an engineer.鈥�
Due to financial disparities, classrooms around the country may not have access to the same resources that make it possible for students to explore their curiosity and excitement for subjects. To help solve this, Das explained, ChemZone lends out free kits for Pennsylvania teachers to use in classrooms, made possible through initial funding from the PPG Foundation; and that despite every classroom鈥檚 differences, the passion that students show for learning make the outreach efforts worthwhile.
鈥淲hat I鈥檝e been really happy to see is, regardless of the environment, how excited and how enthusiastic the students get when you go to the classroom,鈥� Das said.
