Summer Academy 2017 was another adventure for our students in both academic and extracurricular activities. The students participated in classes such as English, math, science, and world language to prepare them for the upcoming year of high school. Upward Bound introduced a few new and stimulating courses this summer, including sign language and Chinese. The science courses included anatomy/physiology, chemistry, psychology, and STEM. In anatomy, students got the chance to dissect bovine hearts and eyes, as well as a sheep brains! The elective options this summer were fitness, health education, music and media, and real talk university, which was a college preparatory course. This summer, our seniors and juniors were given an opportunity to take a 3 credit hour college course in cultural anthropology or communications (speech). All students that participated in these college courses passed!

After an application and interview process to work in internships within schools and departments all around the IUPUI campus, 17 seniors were chosen to participate. Some of the internship sites included IUPUI’s School of Nursing, School of Medicine, and the Center for Young Children. To supplement this work experience, the students participated in a pre-professional course that included workshops and assignments such as writing and editing their resumes and cover letters. Outside of the classroom, our students were able to work on team bonding and camaraderie at Camp Tecumseh (Brookston, Indiana). Afterward, the students had the opportunity to shine as we hosted this year’s Olympiad. Following days of rigorous, dedicated studying, our students brought home the first-place trophy in the Academic Bowl! At the end of the Summer Academy program, students had the privilege of venturing outside of the Midwest to tour colleges and historical sites in Tennessee. They were also given a chance to take in the area culture, where they ate in local restaurants, toured the city of Memphis, and visited the Civil Rights Museum and the Museum of Rock and Roll. We had a blast this summer and are looking forward to another great academic year!