Twenty-eight high achieving minority students, mostly from Colorado, will be honored July 18 for completing an intensive, five-week math and science program at CU-Boulder designed to ready them for their freshman year at CU this fall.
Sponsored by CU-Boulders Minority Arts and Sciences Program and Minority Engineering Program, the Summer Bridge Program hosted the high school graduates and focused on pre-calculus, calculus, chemistry, physics and molecular biology. Designed to give the students a head start in science and engineering at CU, the classes for the residential program were held in the engineering colleges new hands-on Integrated Teaching and Learning Laboratory and throughout the College of Arts and Sciences.
In addition to attending classes from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day, the students participated in rigorous evening math and science workshops stressing teamwork and collaboration. The Latino, African American and American Indian students also received special presentations from CU officials on such topics as student affairs, financial aid and the honors program.
The students took a writing class for college credit from CU history Professor Patricia Limerick, visited local high-tech firms like Storage Technology and Amgen, and attended the annual CU Shakespeare Festival.
The academic boot camp was modeled after the successful MEP and MASP programs at CU-Boulder, which help minority students succeed in engineering and the arts and sciences, said MASP director Alphonse Keasley. The students will be honored at 10 a.m. on July 18 in Duane Physics, room G-030.
This years Summer Bridge Program was made possible by funds from the National Science Foundations Colorado Alliance for Minority Participation, the NSFs Western Alliance to Expand Student Opportunities, the ARCO Foundation and private donors, said MEP Director German Nunez.