High Schoolers Savor a Slice of College Life at UMW Summer Enrichment Program

Bingo! Livia Lee waves her winning card to collect a prize. But rather than numbers, this card is covered in questions that reveal personal characteristics to help classmates get to know one another. What’s your favorite color? Do you recycle?

The specialized version of the traditional game gave students like Lee, a rising junior at Nottoway High School in south-central Virginia, an opportunity to explore the principles behind the ways in which we connect.

The exercise was part of University of Mary Washington Associate Professor of Communication Adria Goldman’s “COMM Play” session, one of more than 20 academic courses offered during this year’s Summer Enrichment Program (SEP) at UMW. Teens from Virginia, Georgia, Maryland, New Hampshire, Oregon and Pennsylvania – even as far away as Vienna, Austria – took part in the fourth annual event, a six-day slice of college coursework and campus life for rising 10th- through 12th- graders.

“SEP provides a truly unique opportunity for students to explore diverse academic topics, engage with faculty and experience a bit of college life,” said Senior Biology Lecturer Michael Stebar, who co-directs the program with Associate Professor of Communication Elizabeth Johnson-Young.

High schoolers Jason Voss (left), Ben Routhier (right) and Olivia Allen (standing) play Getting to Know You BINGO in Professor of Communication Adria Goldman’s COMM Play class. Meant to bring hands-on fun to the study of communication, the course was one of more than 20 offered during UMW’s Summer Enrichment Program. Photo by K Pearlman Photography.

Kaelyn Brown, a rising sophomore at King George High School, shares characteristics about herself in Goldman’s Summer Enrichment Program course, COMM Play. Photo by K Pearlman Photography.

Professor of Communication Adria Goldman taught two courses during the Summer Enrichment Program, COMM Play, which used hands-on activities to explore the principles of communication, and Pop Culture 101, which looked at various types of popular culture and their implications in today’s world. Photo by K Pearlman Photography.

Nearly 80 participants picked three courses to take throughout the week, on everything from video production, photography and costume design to environmental engineering, molecular biology and cybersecurity. They also loaded up on daily enrichment activities, including workshops and field trips that take place in campus locales like science labs, art studios and athletics facilities and fanned out through downtown Fredericksburg.

College essay writing, journal making and museum tours were among the options, along with basketball, pickleball and fishing. Inspired to enroll in SEP after attending a UMW Open House this past winter, Rachel Verhey, a rising senior at Middleburg’s Foxcroft School, selected “Introduction to Jiu Jitsu.” “The community seems welcoming, the academic buildings are cool and the professors are super nice,” said Verhey, who listed spending the night in the residence halls among her favorite parts of the program.

Jiu-jitsu, led by Visiting Instructor of Chemistry Suzanne Nguyen, who holds a black belt in the martial art, was one of several extracurricular activities available to students who participated in UMW’s Summer Enrichment Program. Photo by K Pearlman Photography.

High schoolers practice the art of jiu-jitsu. Other enrichment sessions focused on tennis, fishing, museum tours, crafts and more. Photo by K Pearlman Photography.

Nguyen gives high-school Summer Enrichment Program participants pointers during her jiu-jitsu class. The enrichment session was one of several workshops, field trips and activities that rounded out participants’ days. Photo by K Pearlman Photography.

Kaelyn Brown, a rising sophomore at King George High School who’s considering a nursing career, signed up for “Exploring Healthcare Sciences” with Professor of Biological Sciences Deborah O’Dell. “I thought it would give me a feel for what I want to do in the future,” she said of SEP. “One of the best things you can do is get a head start rather than fall behind.”

More than 20 students also received lessons in building careers in education through “Exploring Teaching” options. Topics included  graphic novels and teaching strategies, and developing responsive relationships with students. Held in UMW’s equipment-and-material-packed Makerspace, a third course focused on project-based learning. 

Maeve Scripps, a rising sophomore at the Academy of Technology and Innovation at UMW, works on a project for the Art of Mathematics. The course was one of more than 20 offered to participating high schoolers during the Summer Enrichment Program. Photo by K Pearlman Photography.

Germanna Community College student C.J. Hall helps out in Professor of Mathematics Debra Hydorn’s Summer Enrichment Program course, The Art of Mathematics. Hall, who hopes to teach math himself, was able to shadow Hydorn during the weeklong summer session thanks to UMW’s Noyce Scholars Program for students who hope to teach in STEM-related fields. Photo by K Pearlman Photography.

High schoolers experimented with tessellations and fractals to create works similar to those by artist MC Escher, in the Art of Mathematics course, offered through the Summer Enrichment Program. Photo by K Pearlman Photography.

UMW junior Chanse Walker chats with a Summer Enrichment Program participant. Walker was able to take part in SEP, assisting students in Professor of Mathematics Debra Hydorn’s course, thanks to UMW’s Noyce Scholars Program for students who hope to teach in STEM-related fields. Photo by K Pearlman Photography.

UMW Professor of Mathematics Debra Hydorn works with high-school student Kayla Oates during the Mathematics of Art course, one of more than 20 offered during the Summer Enrichment Program. Photo by K Pearlman Photography

Rising high-school senior Tekla Austin, who flew more than 4,000 miles from her home in Vienna, Austria, used rulers and colored pencils to experiment with techniques like tessellations and fractals in “The Art of Mathematics” with Professor Debra Hydorn. “After this, I really think I want to go to UMW,” she said of the weeklong adventure. “You can imagine your life here.”

Mary Washington is the ideal place for soon-to-be college students to dip their toes into the world of higher education, said co-chair Johnson-Young, who’s seen the SEP program resonate with teens. “It continues to be awesome to see so many motivated high schoolers from diverse backgrounds come to campus and embrace the idea of the public liberal arts experience.”

For more information, visit UMW’s Summer Enrichment Program webpage or email them at enrichment@umw.edu. See more photos of this year’s event on the SEP Facebook page.