The summer of 2009 will be the seventh offering in Northwest Pennsylvania of Project MASTERS (Multifaceted Advanced Summer Training for Excelling Rural Students).  The MASTERS Program is a hands-on, in-depth, student centered summer experience.  The program will target eighty students in grades 2 through 7 who possess high aptitude and interest in specific fields of study.  This commute program has been designed to create a scientific environment where self-directed gifted students are engaged in a variety of thought provoking activities.  The scientific process and higher order thinking skills are evidenced through scientific investigation, mathematical modeling, and problem solving.  Interaction among students possessing high ability and interest is a top priority in the classes.

 

Initially, three districts in rural Pennsylvania offered the MASTERS Program during the summer of 2003.  Four additional program sites had been added in 2004.  Northwest Tri-County Intermediate Unit #5 was pleased to be one of the four host sites funded by the federal Jacob Javits Grant at that time.  Programs were required to emphasize mathematics and science.  In 2006, Pennsylvania host sites were able to customize their program emphasis to best serve their students' needs in their respective area of math and science.  Summer 2010 will follow to offer a totally new, exciting, and challenging curriculum!

 

The program will be held at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, utilizing supplies and equipment not normally available at an elementary or middle school level.  All courses and lessons will be aligned with Pennsylvania Grade 8/11 Academic Standards in Science, Reading/Writing/Speaking/Listening, and Mathematics.

 

The program focuses on students who have a 95% or higher on a nationally normed standardized test or who have obtained grade averages, in the program emphasis areas, at or above 95%.  Teacher recommendation indicative of high motivation and high ability in the focused subject areas, as well as a serious attitude toward academic learning is mandatory.

 

In this commuter program, students come to the Edinboro University daily and return to their homes in the evening.  The students' parents or guardians provide transportation to and from the host site.  The dates are for June 21-25, 2010.  The basic program involves thirty hours of instruction spanning this one week.  The classes operate from 8:10 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. including a thirty minute lunch period.  Students will bring their own lunches.

 

This program will be promoted through the mailing of a poster and application form to all principals of elementary schools, teachers of the gifted, curriculum directors, and superintendents.  Applications will be accepted through April 23, 2010.  Eighty students can be accepted into the academic camp.