By Michele Alperin
We may not live in Lake Wobegon, the imaginary town where, according to Garrison Keillor, “all the children are above average,” but in Princeton and its environs many a parent wonders what to do with a brainy kid when academic stimulation dries up in the summer.
Whereas many academically talented high school students are happy to hang out at home, find a summer job in town (when those still existed), or be a camp counselor, some lucky teens may find their way to one of four area programs for gifted and talented students: the Center for Talented Youth, or CTY; the Summer Institute for the Gifted; the Junior Statesmen of America Summer School; and the Governor’s School of New Jersey.
In his study of mathematically precocious youth, Johns Hopkins University psychologist Julian Stanley realized that academically talented children learned differently and needed to be not only enriched but in some cases accelerated.
CTY grew out of his work, opening its doors in 1979 to provide summer enrichment for these young people. CTY’s summer program for 10th- to 12th-graders at Princeton University, which began in 2006, runs from June 24 to July 13. Focusing on global issues in the 21st century, the intensive seven-hour-a-day, five-days-a-week classes include the mathematics of competitive behavior, epidemiology, re-emerging infectious diseases and pandemics, human rights and justice, human nature and technology, and politics and film. To determine eligibility, students need to participate in CTY’s talent search and take the SAT or ACT.
Maria Blackburn, CTY communications specialist, describes the type of kids who are attracted to the program. “They are academically talented, love to learn, are drawn to certain subjects, and feel the need to be enriched, engaged, and find out as much as they possibly can about certain things,” she says.
But CTY, and the other programs as well, are sensitive not only to the academic needs of these children, but to the social benefits of studying with likeminded peers.
”A lot of kids talk about how during the school year they are set apart and don’t feel a sense of connectedness with classmates,” says Ms. Blackburn. “Taking a class like history of disease, ethics, logic, or cryptography helps them develop their passions and then find a community of people who are like them and not so like them. We want to challenge kids, and we want them to feel connected, not only to what they are learning but to their classmates.”
At CTY students live with peers, usually from their classes. “That experience of living away from home on a college campus for three weeks seems to them as important as what happens in the classroom,” says Ms. Blackburn. “It builds community. They are part of something beyond just sharing space in the classroom.”
The 28-year-old Summer Institute for the Gifted differs from CTY in a number of ways, although it serves a similar population. The primary distinction is the type of study offered. Whereas at CTY students explore a single subject for 35 hours a week, at the institute they take five classes, three academic and two in arts and recreation. This approach, suggests Kate Vieillard, marketing and special programs director for the Summer Institute for the Gifted, appeals to gifted children who are strong in several areas and interested in learning about a variety of topics.
The program at Princeton University, dating from 2004, is for 13 to 17 year olds. It offers SAT and college prep courses in math and writing but encourages students to take multidisciplinary classes like Piracy of Privacy and Military History: Future Strategy for 13 and 14 year olds, and Crime Scene Investigation and the Brain and Dreaming for 15 to 17 year olds. Classes in visual and performing arts include digital photography, drawing and sculpting, improv, and Broadway acting. To attend teens must score in the top five percent of nationally normed tests.
For students, says Kate Vieillard, the program mimics the college day, moving from class to class, with homework assignments in each one. Whereas the academic is important, the program also focuses on the social-emotional aspects of gifted children, with field trips on Saturdays, brain bowls, and “activities that reach all sides of their brains.”
Another distinctive approach is that some classes are quite flexible, as teachers respond to input from students. “It’s up to the kids to tell the instructors where they want to go in a particular subject,” says Ms. Vieillard, recalling a unit she once wrote on Sensible Sleuthing, based on the mysteries of Christopher Van Allsburg, but the students decided they wanted to learn about Amelia Earhart, and that’s where the class went.
The Summer Institute for the Gifted also offers a program for children ages 4 to 12 at Stuart Country Day School, with extended day, from July 16 to August 3. The academic courses vary by age group, ranging from Emerging Mathematicians and Science Sensations for four-year-olds to classes like Fantasy Fiction Fun and DNA: Your Unique Code for 11- and 12-year-olds.
The Junior Statesman Summer School, in its 71st year, draws students who are both concerned with what is happening around them—in politics and government, foreign affairs, law, and education—and enjoy serious learning experiences. Students often come to the program through the Junior State of America high-school program, but they do not have to be members.
The program at Princeton, which runs from July 8 to July 29 includes classes in government, macroeconomics, constitutional law, international relations, and speech and political communications, with two classes unique to the Princeton site: a smallish Freshman Scholars Program for students about to enter ninth grade, whose curriculum includes AP U.S. Government and incorporates interactive learning; and an AP U.S. History course, which begins July 1.
Students also participate in the Congressional Workshop. During the three-week courses, the students finish a semester’s worth of material, take exams, and write a research paper. After the program, many students take AP exams in the subjects they have studied.
In an e-mail, Larry Guillemette, chief academic and outreach officer of the Junior Statesmen Foundation, shares the foundation’s goals for its summer program. The first is to prepare students for success in college and beyond by exposure to a diverse group of students, life in a college dorm room, study with university professors, and an intensive application process, and as a result developing a new sense of personal responsibility.
A second goal is to create a community of students, faculty, and resident assistants who share ideas and learn in class, at meals, and during recreational activities.
Developing leadership is a third focus, through courses that explore and analyze current events and public policy and via interactive learning activities that build leadership skills.
A fourth prong is to allow students to develop close working relationships with professors as mentors, both in the small classes and through life on campus.
Finally, the program promotes informed political discussion, wherever students reside on the political spectrum, by encouraging them to express their opinions, challenging their assumptions, and learning from each other’s experiences.
The Governor’s School of New Jersey offers two programs, one in the sciences from July 15 through August 4 at Drew University in Madison (Morris County), which focuses on subjects like chemistry, physics, mathematics, quantum mechanics, combinatorics, and molecular orbital theory; and one in engineering and technology from July 1 through 27 at the Busch Campus of Rutgers University in Piscataway.
Both programs include intensive courses, team projects with experienced mentors, special lectures, research presentations, and exposure to career opportunities. Schools nominate students with excellent abilities and interest in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics during their junior year in high school. Nominated students, including home schoolers, compete for spots in the program by submitting applications, scores, and essays.
Enrichment programs for gifted and talented students are similar to the summer camps that nurture children who skilled in athletics or the arts.
Ms. Blackburn writes, “Just as young athletes and burgeoning musicians attend sports camps and music camps to hone their skills, academically talented students can benefit from CTY because it provides opportunities for them to be intellectually challenged and engaged.”
Summing up the experience of a summer of learning and recreation that these students share during the three-week CTY program: “Three weeks may not seem like a long time to most people, but for CTYers it’s long enough to accomplish so much, from mastering Ancient Greek and decoding complicated codes, to developing new friendships with students from all over the world, to becoming part of a community where people not only accept you, they celebrate you for who you are.”
/runhed,,,Contact information:
Center for Talented Youth, 5801 Smith Ave., No. 400 McAuley Hall, Baltimore, Maryland 21209. Phone: 410-735-4100 and 410-735-6200 / Email: ctyinfo@jhu.edu. Web site: http://cty.jhu.edu/summer/princeton/index.html, Maria Blackburn, communications specialist at CTY: mariablackburn@jhu.edukvieillard@giftedstudy.org, or call 203-399-5103. Web sites: www.giftedstudy.org/day/stuart/courses.asp, www.giftedstudy.org/day/stuart/course_descriptions.asp, www.giftedstudy.org/about.asp. Write to sig.info@giftedstudy.org.
Junior Statesman Summer School. Larry Guillemette, lguillemette@jsa.org. 202-591-3728. Phone: 800-317-9338.
Governor’s School of New Jersey. Web site: www.nj.gov/govschool/index.html. Contact: Barbara.Pepe@che.state.nj.us or 609-984-2684.
