A total of 149 high school students from all over the U.S. gathered on Augustana’s campus this past week for the 7th annual Augustana Summer Academy.
According to Bonnie, the academy program director and Associate Director of Admissions and Transfer Enrollment, participation has grown from less than 30 to over the past 2 years.
Jessee said there were 31 students from out of state: 9 from TX, 3 from CA, 1 from PA, 1 from RI, 1 from MI, 1 from OH, and the rest from the surrounding states, WI, IN, and IA. 9 of the students in the academy participated in more than one class.
An assortment of courses was taught at the academy with subjects varying from psychology to Harry Potter.
The courses range from two to five days long during the week of the academy.
An email is sent out to faculty providing them the opportunity to volunteer to teach a class in the academy. 13 classes were offered this summer, with some classes having two faculty members teaching.
Dr. Jessica Schultz, Assistant Professor of Psychology, taught a course called, “The Psychology of Happiness” for the academy.
Schultz’s two-day long course explored the concept of happiness using psychology. Student participants experienced discussions, mini-lectures, videos, and hands on activities.
“I enjoy introducing high school students to psychology, and, in this course, helping them understand the scientific study of happiness,” said Schultz.
Schultz also introduced some topics from other psychology courses taught at Augie including Introduction to Psychology and Personality Research and Assessment.
There has been about a 15 to 20 percent yield on getting students who participated in the academy to attend Augustana, according to Jessee.
Natalie Pretele, 16, of Algonquin, IL participated in the Creative Writing class. Pretele said that she came to the academy because of hearing good reviews and knowing someone who has come in previous years.
Katie Hanson, assistant professor in English and education taught the five-day long Creative Writing course. In the course, students explored different forms of writing such as short stories, movie scripts, and plays.
“The greatest part has been making a lot of really good friends and learning some lifelong skills that will definitely help me in my writing career in the future,” Pretele said.