By Jennifer Price
Visiting a state prison. Launching a travel blog. Designing a medical device.
These are just some of the things high school students are doing this year at GW’s Pre-College Program.
The program offers two 10-day sessions during the summer, with five different courses each session. Students live on the Mount Vernon Campus and are in class for about six hours each day. Courses in biomedical engineering, election politics, crime and justice, photojournalism and writing are being offered in the first session, which ran July 7 to July 16. Theater, robotics, women’s leadership, U.S. foreign policy and environmental courses will be offered in the second session, which runs July 21 to July 30.
“A lot of my students have aspirations to go into law or law enforcement, and this course gives them a perspective they’re not going to get even as college students,” says Richard Sutton, a part-time faculty member in the Department of Sociology, who teaches the crime and justice course.
The best part about the course, says Dr. Sutton, is the field trips and guest speakers. Students visited the Arlington County Jail, the Maryland Correctional Institution and the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, where they get to observe a trial.
James Trainum, a former D.C. homicide detective, spoke to the students about the murders of three people at the Georgetown Starbucks in 1997. Other speakers included Ray Harp, project manager for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and Yvonne Bryant, a victims’ rights specialist at the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“I really feel like we’re taking a nose dive into the criminal justice system,” says Erin McConlogue, a rising senior from San Diego.
Although the courses are not graded, they serve as a good introduction to what a college class is like.
“I really like being around other students who are like me. We’re all striving to get an educational benefit rather than go to regular summer camp, where the goal is just to play games,” says Ms. McConlogue, who plans to apply to GW in the fall.
Students in the photojournalism course have been taking pictures around the District at places like the Lincoln Memorial, the National Cathedral and Arlington Cemetery. Editors from National Geographic and Smithsonian Magazine also gave lectures to the students.
Other students are using engineering principles to solve medical problems.
Seventeen-year-old Victoria Garbo, 15-year-old Heeyun Na and 17-year-old Bohan Yu are designing a device that they hope could alleviate cardiac arrhythmias, which are irregular heart beats. Unlike a pacemaker, this device would not rely on a battery.
“I love learning new things about the heart and getting into more advanced biology,” says Ms. Garbo, of Mystic, Conn.
The Pre-College Program gives high school students an opportunity to look at themselves as college students, says Barbara Myklebust, an engineering research professor and the assistant dean for student affairs at GW’s School of Engineering and Applied Science.
“We try to give them a very similar experience to one they would have when they’re in college,” says Dr. Myklebust.
Students enrolled in the Election Politics course get hands-on experience recording political radio advertisements, conducting mock political press conferences and planning a campaign strategy.
And other students are traveling around the District blogging about tourist destinations like the National Mall, Ben’s Chili Bowl and the National Gallery of Art as well as up and coming neighborhoods like Columbia Heights and U Street.
“I hope they develop a love for the city and see D.C. in a new light,” says Joe Callahan, an adjunct professor in the English Department.
In addition to getting an introduction to college classes, the students get a better understanding of what college life is like.
Admissions officers give a presentation on how to apply to college, and other GW staffers give an overview of student activities, questions to ask when considering college and residential living.
“I’m really excited for college now,” says Ms. McConlogue.