9th + 10th Grade
We know that the hike to college is steep, but our students proved this summer that anything is possible with enough hard work and determination. The 9th graders started their summer by taking a trip south to Atlanta, Georgia. Our students had the opportunity to visit Georgia Tech, Emory, Morehouse and Spelman. In addition, our rising 9th graders explored downtown Atlanta and attended a Braves baseball game. The 10th graders took a trip to Richmond, VA and Washington, D.C. where they had the opportunity to tour the University of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University, Georgetown University and Howard University. Students went roller-skating, visited the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, and rode the Metro.
Our students returned to Student U where they had the opportunity to select classes for the summer, which ranged from designing shoes and photography with Ms. Amber Carroll, or yoga and screenplay writing with Mr. Mark Spring, or probability and statistics with Mr. Cody Edwards, or bridge building with Mr. Doug Price, or music creation and monologue reading with Ms. Daja Middleton, or short stories and an all girls circle with Ms. Nina Scott, or Foundations of Math and algebra with Ms. Sam Stancil, or global issues with Ms. Carly West, or spoken word poetry with Mr. Terrence Foushee, or contemporary issues with Ms. Alyssa Martinez. We emphasized literacy across the curriculums and challenged our students to read and write in all our classes. We focused on building healthy and professional habits, and motivated our students to walk with purpose. With a great staff and dedicated students, this year’s Summer Academy was by far the strongest ever at Student U.
Internships
This year, the internship program went through programming and staffing changes to better support the development of our students and to better accommodate the needs of our host sites. First, host sites held all the interviews and directly selected students to work with them for the summer. Next, all students participated in on-site orientations with their host sites, in addition to a Student U orientation and weekly professional development sessions held by Student U. Topics covered during these professional development sessions included public speaking, developing business plans, workplace etiquette, resume and cover letter writing, and interviewing. Last but certainly not least, Student U hired its first Junior Internship Coordinator, Ms. Angelica Cohen. Angelica is a Student U college freshmen and she spent the summer expertly managing the daily operations of Student U interns on our campus. The changes we made enabled us to better match our students to internships that aligned with their skills sets and interests, to ensure that our host sites felt more buy-in and control in the process, and to respond immediately to student needs through professional development. Students were placed in over a dozen companies, including the Museum of Life and Science, the Durham Bulls, MDC, and NCCU summer camps.
Summer Opportunities
Every year, Student U juniors and seniors have the opportunity to participate in programs outside of Student U that align with their interest and talents in hopes of keeping them engaged with their education and developing clear pathways to discovering their best selves. This summer, six juniors and seniors requested funds to participate in the following programs: UNSA 2014 Comprehensive Dance Immersion Program, NCSU Summer Engineering Program, NCSU Design Immersions, IWAS Junior Competition in London, Duke Elite Baseball Camp and a school trip to Washington D.C. In addition to this, a number of our students were placed in Duke’s summer research program, WUNC’S Radio Institute for high school students, the Durham Art Guild Internship Program and Full Frame’s Summer Documentary camp.
