This program is for a summer and academic year Young Scholars Program at the University of California, Berkeley and various middle and junior high school sites. The program will serve 120 students entering grades eight, nine or ten. Program participants will be 90 percent Black, Hispanic, Native American or Puerto Rican, and will be selected through written applications and staff interviews. Young Scholars Program will introduce students to engineering and science concepts in ways that will demonstrate to them how academic course work relates to the future, how science and engineering relate to the world around them, and how the practice of science is accomplished. The program will also involve parents by helping them to become informed and activity involved in the education of their children. The summer program includes morning mathematics and English courses, seminars on culture and ethics, afternoon pre-engineering activities (speakers, fieldtrips, and projects) and a "shadowing" program, whereby students will work on the job with mentor scientists and engineers. Evening and Saturday workshops will provide parents and students with information on a variety of topics, including college entrance requirements, financial aid, making the transition from middle school to secondary school, and career options in science and engineering.
