Research trips to college laboratories and homemade nutritional dinners are some of the new additions to the Summer Enrichment at Dartmouth program this year. Hosted by the Tucker Foundation, the program has invited 32 gifted students from under-resourced high schools in the northeast for academic courses, workshops and activities, program director Jay Davis said.
The program also hired a college pathways coordinator — Antonio Brown ’11 — whose job is to support students who attend college after the program.
AmeriCorps VISTA, a federal program designed to combat poverty, will partly fund the inaugural tenure of this full-time position, Davis said.
A program mentor as College sophomore, his attachment to the participants motivated him to apply for the position, Brown said. Since he is a first-generation student, he hoped he could help other students.
“I really wanted to make sure that they didn’t have to go through some of the hardship that I did,” he said. “And even if they did, I hoped they knew someone they can talk to and help them navigate through the situations.”
In addition to providing advice on college academics and social life, Brown is also helping the current participants with the college application process.
Various workshops on topics that are in high school curricula, including nutrition, sexuality, bystander initiative and identity, add a new dimension to this year’s program, Davis said.
The program now includes a two-day overnight trip to an undergraduate research facility in the Isle of Shoals operated by Cornell University and the University of New Hampshire.The scholars will dissect pilot sharks, observe tidal pools and collect specimen, gaining hands-on experience in marine biology, Davis said.
The SEAD participants will also walk in the Prouty this weekend and have raised more than $7,500.
Students attended a lecture from a College nutritionist on Wednesday, then cooked dinner together with the SEAD staff.
SEAD intern Daniel Handwerker, a rising senior at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in New York, attended the lecture and dinner.He said the scholars were extremely attentive and asked interesting questions.
“It was amazing to see how quickly the students — and even myself — just got put in the mindset of eating healthier,” Handwerker said. “We also learned about how much effort people put in their dinners. It was amazing how open the students were to learning new facts.”
This program follows groups of students through all four years of their high school careers, inviting a new cadre of students to join the program during the senior year of the previous group, Davis said.
The students currently on campus are SEAD II, meaning they are in the second year of the four-year program. They hail from four different partner high schools: the Bronx Center for Mathematics and Science, Schenectady High School, Raymond High School and East Boston High School.
Handwerker, who heard of the position through a cousin who interned at the program last year, said that SEAD has been a meaningful experience that broadened his worldview.
“My goal is to keep having fun with the students, really get close with them and understand where they come from and how they’re dealing with whatever issue they have in their lives,” Handwerker said.
SEAD participant Rachel Muir said that she learned about the program from her ninth grade physics teacher. She took the program as an opportunity get out of her comfort zone, she said.
Student mentor Jacob Flores ’16 said that his ethnic background and interest in sports helped him grow close with his mentee. He hopes to establish a friendship with his mentee that outlasts the program’s span of three weeks, he said.
“Continuing into the second year, I hope to be able to able to check in with how they’re doing,” Flores said.
Graduate assistant MaeAnna Edwards said that the friendship she cultivated with the participants last year motivated her to return.
“It was not even a question,” she said.
Dartmouth students, totalling 100, participate in the program as staff, mentors, academic coaches and SEAD crew. In addition, members of Greek and affinity houses have hosted meals and helped out with various activities, Davis said.
Thirty-two faculty and administrators from various departments also serve as mentors.
Min Kyung Jeon contributed reporting.
The article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction appended (7/11/14):
SEAD students come from four partner high schools, not five, as the article originally reported.
