FUNDED PROGRAMS AWARDED 96/97

Project Title: Project Launch--Summer Science Academy for 9th and 10th Graders
Project Director: Kathleen Moore
Organization: Victor Valley College
Phone: (760)245-4271,ext.24882

Nationally, over the previous two decades, the data from scientific journals and labor market statics indicate marginal numbers of minorities entering post-secondary institutions as declared science or technical majors. Project Launch, a four-week Summer Science Academy will target minority and disabled ninth and tenth graders to build skills in experimentation and research using Internet resources. Students will observe how science impacts their enviornment regardless of disability, ethnicity, or gender. Field trips to science industries and interaction with technicians and employers are included. Learning success strategies based upon results of individualized learning profiles will add to increased learning potential for Project Launch participants. Under the direction of a Learning Specialist, participants will learn to identify their preferred learning modality; learning style; learning strengths and weaknesses; motivational and self-esteem levels; interests; physical/cultural barriers, and potential for success. Students will explore professional and technical career paths in the sciences, reporting on one. Curriculum is a learner-center collaborative approach within a multi-sensory framework to match students' needs, and the classroom is a place for them to practice newly acquired learning awareness. Participants will have peer mentors from previous successful Summer Science Academies. Successful completers will earn one-half unit of college credit and will mentor completers as they transition through high school. The project will create higher under-representd student enrollment in high school science courses and increased transfer to community colleges as science majors.