 |
| |
| |
|
|
| Oelschalger Summer Leadership Institute participants had fun during a variety of activities planned at Camp Y-Noah. |
 |
When Eddie Ivy arrived on the UA campus in mid-July to take part in the Oelschlager Summer Leadership Institute, he wasn’t at all sure if he was going to like it.
“I thought it was going to be a lot of work — a lot of time in classes. I didn’t think I’d mesh with the other kids,” says Ivy, who will be a high school senior this fall in Cleveland. “But it was fun. We did lots of different activities and we all got along great — we were like a family in no time.”
Ivy’s experience, and his enthusiasm for the program, is typical among participants, says Ron McDonald, assistant dean of student affairs and director of the institute. The Jim and Vanita Oelschlager Institute is one of a growing number of programs offered at the University each summer to give area youth an early taste of campus life.
While each program has a distinct focus, all are designed to be fun learning experiences. In addition to the Oelschlager Institute, UA hosts a Summer Honors Institute for Gifted Students and an engineering day camp for middle school-age girls.
Now in its second year, the Oelschlager Institute gives 48 high school students from Ohio and Pennsylvania the opportunity to explore the dynamics of leadership. High school guidance counselors nominate students that demonstrate a strong potential for leadership and service, and the institute staff makes the final selections for the program.
The institute is a component of the Jim and Vanita Oelschlager Leadership Awards endowment to the University established in 2000 by Jim and Vanita Oelschlager. The junior participants received an Oelschlager Silver Acorn Leadership Award of $600 and seniors received a Golden Acorn Leadership Award of $750.
Twenty-four juniors were on the Akron campus in June for a two-week residential session, while 24 high school seniors, including Ivy, were here in July, also for two weeks.
This year’s program included a one-day leadership training workshop at Camp Y-Noah, service projects with Habitat for Humanity and Access, a Blue and Gold Scavenger Hunt designed to introduce students to campus resources, interaction with UA’s Speech and Debate team members and a “Subarctic Survival” challenge.
“We set out to give our students an orientation to college life, and we help them improve their leadership skills as well as their academic performance,” says McDonald.
“It’s amazing to watch their transformation over two weeks,” he adds. “You have a group of students who don’t know each other at all and very, very quickly, they become a team — close friendships develop. They know they were chosen for this program and we spend a lot of time with them. By the end, they are leaving campus with a different level of self-confidence.”
For Ivy, the two weeks at UA was full of pluses.
He got the chance to polish the leadership skills he’s been developing as a member of student council and other groups at his school. He also experienced what campus life will be like when he comes here next year to major in mass communications. And, he has a new network of friends to stay in touch with by phone and e-mail.
“I liked the team activities, especially when we got to brainstorm problems to come up with solutions,” says Ivy. “And I liked the atmosphere — the freedom we had here.”
That opportunity to be challenged is very much a part of the Summer Honors Institute for Gifted Students as well. The three-week program, which is funded by the Ohio Department of Education, brings high school sophomores and juniors to campus each June for classes, a variety of activities and field trips.
Sixty-five area students took part in this year’s program, says Dianne Wright, an associate professor of education and its longtime director. “We offered eight classes, everything from ‘Discovering Polymers’ to ‘Engineering Design.’ Students took one class in the morning and another in the afternoon.
|
|
| Michael Walsh, who teaches “Law and Society” for the Honors Institute, presents a certificate to a participant during closing ceremonies. |
|
“There were a number of off-campus activities as well,” adds Wright. “The intent is that these students be offered a wide range of dynamic, educational experiences (many of which are hands-on) that they would not get in high school.
“At our closing program, I know the parents enjoyed watching the demonstrations of what the students had learned along the way,” says Wright.
Michael Walsh, director of the School of Law’s Trial Litigation Clinic, has taught “Law and Society” for the Honors Institute for several years.
“I think the students in this program appreciate the chance to be treated as adults, rather than as kids in high school,” says Walsh.
“Here on campus they’re given so much more responsibility than in high school. They have projects and assignments that are complex, we’re really asking them to think beyond the expected and to work as a team,” adds Walsh. “Part of why I continue to teach the class every year is that I enjoy watching them go through that process.”
Meanwhile, “Multiplying Your Options,” the theme for this year’s Engineering Summer Camp for Girls, introduced seventh and eighth grade girls to the myriad opportunities for women in the fields of math, science and engineering. UA’s Women in Engineering Program (WIEP) conducts the camp annually in June.
Participants took field trips to a chocolate factory, a polymer industry facility, an engineering design firm and a defense systems facility. On-campus activities included building model roller coasters, hands-on activities in the Smart Materials Lab, and designing and racing a small car built out of edible materials.
|
|
| OK, it's a car made of fruit, but it worked and these participants in UA's Engineering Summer Camp for Girls had a lot of fun designing it. |
|
Donna Hrko, director of WIEP, sees the program as an investment in the future of the engineering work force, particularly in Northeast Ohio.
“Middle school years are critical in developing a girl’s interest in engineering,” says Hrko. “This summer camp is one of many WIEP programs to encourage girls to consider engineering careers.”
Program sponsors include Environmental Design Group, Harry London Candies, PPG Industries, Little Tikes, Lockheed Martin and Regency Construction Services.
The University of Akron established WIEP in 1993 to recruit and retain women in engineering disciplines by providing the tools and resources students need to successfully complete their degrees. Since then, the program has grown to include a variety of outreach and mentoring programs as well as community-based activities — such as the engineering day camps for girls.
| |
|
|
|
|
