Academies offer high school students unique opportunities to explore career paths

Georgia Regents University is reaching out to the community with two free weeklong academic residential programs geared toward high school students.

With two dates to choose from, both the Health Sciences Summer Academy and the Cyber Sciences Summer Academy will offer students the opportunity to immerse themselves in their chosen areas of interest while getting a taste of college life by spending a week in student housing.

The Health Sciences Summer Academy will use volunteers from the Health Sciences Campus to introduce students to the academic and professional tools necessary to become successful health science practitioners. According to Denise Kornegay, Executive Director, Statewide Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) and Associate Dean of AHEC/MCG, the experience will provide an environment for students to help inform their academic and career choices.

“From suturing to scientific discovery exercises, students will learn cognitive and hands-on skills that will assist them in confirming or identifying a health career pathway for their futures,” she said.

Fort Gordon, which is now home to the U.S. Army Cyber Command, will provide assistance to the Cyber Sciences Summer Academy.

“The academy offers extensive hands-on cyber-related activities that will test and extend Cyber Sciences Summer Academy student problem-solving abilities and critical thinking skills,” said Joanne Sexton, Director for GRU Cyber Security Educational Initiatives and Assistant Professor of Computer and Information Sciences in the Hull College of Business.

The programs, which run concurrently, are each offered twice, from June 21-25 and from June 28-July 2.

The free camps are open to current high school freshmen, sophomores, and juniors.

According to Paula Owens, project lead, the camps represent a chance for students to obtain firsthand information about their fields of interest while also strengthening their college resumes.

Eventually, the hope is that the academies will become part of the Governor’s Honors Program, a prestigious residential summer program for gifted and talented high school students. The idea behind the program is to provide students a different educational experience than they receive in the classroom.

“Right now, our academies are a pilot program,” Owens said. “But we would definitely like the Governor’s Honors committee to look at our academies so we can be a part of the Governor’s Honors program.”

For Owens, the academies also represent a chance for the university to reengage with the community.

“I don’t know if there will be more residential camps, but I do believe this will be an opportunity to have more camps where we can invite the community in to GRU,” she said. “I see this as being a gateway for that.”