The Students Discover Academy and Saturday Academy Programs are opportunities where students will participate in real-world, authentic science research, connect with scientists and other Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) professionals, participate in relevant field experiences, and explore how the different colleges and universities in Wake County can play a role in their high school to career pathway.
For these two programs, we are seeking students who are underrepresented in STEM fields to engage and introduce them to varying career paths. Here is what’s afforded by this opportunity:
Students Discover Academy
A three week summer program where students will learn through Citizen Science modules that are connected to the NC Standard Course of Study.
- Tuesday — Friday, July 11 – 28 from 9:00am – 12:30pm
- The three weeks will include:
- Science research in varying fields and hands on lab investigations
- Weekly field experiences at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and working with scientists from the museum.
- Meeting STEM professionals and learning about different careers in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math
- Transportation and lunch will be provided each day
Saturday Academy
Six Saturday sessions will be held to further engage students with scientists and for the students to see the link college/university plays in their career choices.
- Each Saturday session will include:
- Activities with scientists from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
- A visit to one of the six colleges/universities located in Wake County.
- Over the course of the six Saturdays, our students will have visited all six colleges/universities in Wake County
- Transportation and lunch will be provided each of the six Saturdays
Mentoring
Trained volunteer mentors will be assigned to meet with students once a month. Topics will also include college exploration and preparation, STEM careers, and job readiness.
2015-2016 Mentors
- Aaron Wilson: Quantifize Solutions
- Johnny Wood, Patrick Wade: Dewberry Engineers
- Brittany Hurtado, Matthew Rushing: NC State Parks
- Nancy Chilton, Brandy Allen, Venkata Chandramouli, Michael Foster, Bill Doyle, Simone Gianotti, Kevin White: Schneider Electric
- Kate Leahy, Kelly Broccio, Fang Zhou, Erica Reid, Christon Wiles: BRI Worldwide
- Vee Ringer, Colleen Sawyer: The Vets Pets
- Charlie and Lisa Breakiron: BREAKIRON Animation
- Charlene Browning: Four Oaks Bank
- Lisa Gatens, Arthur Bogan: NC Museum of Natural Sciences
- Marci Wright, Mike Holder, Leigh Wing, Lisa Horton, Benny Sloan, Joey Hopkins: NC DOT
- Jason Peterson: S&ME Engineering
- Caela O’Connell, Lauren Diepenbrock, Daavid Vaananen, Courtney Klotz, Harshini Ramakrishna: North Carolina State University
- Matthew Copple: SEPI Engineering
- Adam Gosselin: RS&H Engineering
- Aaron Wilson: Quantifize Solutions
- Jaclyn Bonin
- Laura Meissner: Goodwin Meissner Foundation
- Mary Lewis: Novozymes
- Nathan Garcia, Robert Walker: DRMP, Inc
- Carissa Lada: Cisco
Parent/Guardian Sessions
Parent sessions will be held over the course of the Students Discover Academy and Saturday Academy programs. Parents will learn about the experiences their students are having during the summer and six Saturdays. Additionally, they will meet both scientists from the programs and representatives from the six colleges/universities located in Wake County. As you can see, this is great opportunity for your child. If he/she has an interest in different fields of science and has college as a goal in mind, then we would love for him/her to apply for this program.
You can apply for the Students Discover Academy and Saturday Academy Program here:
Or if you prefer to download a .pdf version to print and fill out to give to your counselor, you can download that here: 2016 Students Discover Academy Application (English) or 2016 Students Discover Academy Application_Spanish (Spanish)
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