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Since 1976, IIT has been holding pre-college summer programs for high school students planning to continue their education at universities and colleges. These programs cater to minority students from the Chicago area. Currently. there are four programs running at IIT, almost consecutively, during the regular summer school period. One of them, BRIDGE (as its name states), is a 7 week course that aims to help reduce the academic gap for high school students coming to the university. This year. 27 students( 19 male, 8 female) enrolled in the summer BRIDGE program studying pre-calculus, physical science and participating in a newly introduced math fluency class. In addition to BRIDGE, there is an EARLY ID program for high school juniors and seniors that promotes college and university enrollment, and DASH for high school freshmen and sophomores (see photo). The last 5 weeks of the summer, Project Start and WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) run along the same lines as BRIDGE and EARLY ID emphasizing engineering and science for women and other underrepresented groups. The organizers of these programs from the Minority Programs office work closely with IIT staff and professors to coordinate efforts on course content and structure. In addition to regular classes, engineering competitions are held, this year with Chicago State and Purdue universities. This summer also saw the introduction of social and cultural activities which included tours to the Water Reclamation Center, Motorola, Great America and the Black Expo. |
These events largely improved the program's atmospheres and helped show that the university is not 100% synonymous with studying all day long.In addition, a campus-wide "discount program" was launched this summer. This exceptional program offered enticing discounts on things ranging from Luigi's Pizza to items from Follett's Bookstore (text books excluded of course for pre-college students). Generous offers were made by companies providing free T-shirts and bags and, most notably, free calculators from Texas Instruments. At the end of this enjoyable summer, each program had a closing ceremony and the programs, organizers declared them an all-round success. According to Kevin Smith from the minority office, and I quote, "The programs were fantastic and we'll be seeing many of the participants at IIT next year!" |
[DASH] [EID] [Bridge] [Prof. Johnson] [Prof J., BCPS] [NewsArticles]