$1,000 college scholarships are available: Apply to the Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference!

The annual Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference awards $1,000 college scholarships to rising high school seniors who are interested in pursuing a career in journalism. 

Students will come to Washington, DC from July 14-19, 2012 to receive their awards and participate in an all-expenses-paid journalism conference at the Newseum. This program is funded by the Freedom Forum to honor Al Neuharth, the founder of USA TODAY, the Newseum and the Freedom Forum. 

Fifty-one (51) students, representing each of the 50 states and Washington, DC will be accepted to attend the conference.

The deadline to submit the online application is February 15, 2012. Applicants are strongly advised to print and read the reference guide prior to starting the application process.

Scholarships will be awarded to students who successfully complete the program and will be paid to the students' colleges and universities of choice in the fall of 2013.

Applications are now available for Cornell University's Summer College Program!

 

Cornell University's prestigious Summer College Program offers three and six-week academic programs for talented sophomores, juniors and seniors from around the world. 

By spending a summer at Cornell, you will:

Experience the excitement of college life at a great Ivy League university

Take fascinating college courses with Cornell's world-renowned faculty

Get a head start on college by earning three to six (3-6) college credits

Explore careers and academic majors from architecture to veterinary medicine

Enhance your college applications and attend admissions workshops

Live, study and play on one of the nation's most beautiful campuses

Make friends from around the world and much, much more!

Available summer programs include:

Architecture, Art and Design, Business, College Success, Engineering, Environmental Studies, History and Politics, Hotel Management, Humanities, Law and Government, Medicine, Psychology, Research and Science and Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science.

As a Summer College student, you will enroll in one or more of Cornell's fast-paced and rigorous undergraduate courses and enjoy the rare opportunity to work closely with some of Cornell's most outstanding professors.

The grades and credits you earn will be recorded on an official Cornell University transcript and usually, these credits can be applied toward an undergraduate degree at Cornell or another school.

Summer College programs run for three or six weeks between June 23 and August 7 on Cornell’s campus in Ithaca, New York.

To be eligible for Summer College, you must have completed your sophomore, junior or senior year of high school by June 2012.

Cornell receives between 1,200 and 1,450 applications for all summer programs and more than 900 students attend Summer College each year.

Limited financial aid is available and the financial aid form must be submitted along with your application.

Apply now for Cornell’s 2012 Summer College. Please note that you will need to create an account in order to complete the online application. The application deadline for most programs is May 4, 2012. For the best chance at getting into your first-choice program, students are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

If you have any questions about the Summer College program or the application process, please contact Cornell at (607) 255-6203.

The Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop: Applications due March 1, 2012!

 Young Writers is an intensive, two-week workshop for intellectually curious, motivated, high-school students who value writing. The goal of the workshop is to help students develop their creative and critical abilities with language and to become better, more productive writers and more insightful thinkers.

Young Writers takes place at Kenyon College, a leading liberal-arts college renowned for its tradition of literary study. The Young Writers Workshop program is sponsored by The Kenyon Review, one of the country’s preeminent literary magazines.

At Young Writers, students write to explore ideas, then develop those ideas through further writing. Because good writers are also avid readers, students read short stories, poems and essays, which they discuss, write about and use as inspiration for their own work.

 

Workshop groups (with no more than twelve students in each group) meet for five hours a day. In addition to freewriting exercises and responses to “prompts,” students write stories, poetry, personal narratives, dialogues, reflective passages and experimental pieces. They also use writing to explore, creatively and analytically, short works by established authors. While traditional expository essays are not assigned (nor is any work at Young Writers graded), a number of our exercises help students approach difficult texts and develop skills that will serve them well in writing papers for school and college.

Workshop sessions are complemented by informal interchange during free time as well as by a series of public readings by visiting poets, fiction writers, and essayists.

Nestled among rolling hills in the village of Gambier, the Kenyon campus is known for its striking beauty. Students have full access to College recreational facilities, including basketball and tennis courts and a swimming pool. Weekend activities include social events and field trips.

Young Writers is a two-week residential program. The total cost, including tuition, accommodations, all meals, and activities, is $2,275. Kenyon is committed to socioeconomic diversity and some scholarship aid is available for students who demonstrate financial need as part of their application. To apply for scholarship aid, please check the box on the application form and send in the scholarship application form by March 1, 2012.

In addition to the online application form, each student must also submit a brief story or essay (not to exceed 300 words) that illustrates why he or she is interested in participating in the Young Writers program and what he or she might contribute to it. A teacher’s letter of recommendation, a high school transcript and the optional financial aid application must also be postmarked and/or submitted electronically no later than March 1, 2012.

Bits & Bytes Program for High School Junior Girls! Applications due January 15!

The Center for Women in Technology (CWIT) presents the Bits & Bytes Program for high school junior girls! Each year, 20-30 academically talented young women are invited to an overnight visit at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) where they will be hosted by CWIT Scholars and Affiliates who are participating in CWIT’s Living Learning Community. The Bits and Bytes program supports CWIT’s mission to encourage and support women to be leaders in Information Technology (IT) and Engineering fields.

The purpose of this FREE event is to engage local high school girls in the college atmosphere and expose them to the engineering and IT fields. Along with in-depth exposure to life as a college student and UMBC as an institution, the students participate in either an engineering or IT design competition (for prizes), interact with current UMBC students who are involved in the CWIT Scholars Program and attend a college class with one of the CWIT students.

The IT design competition uses the Alice 3D authoring environment, which allows students to create, animate and interact with 3D, computer-generated scenes. Students work in teams to design an animated story with various interactions, scenes, animated characters and other features.

In the engineering design competition, students are required to work in teams to invent an idea that will solve a problem.

During the Bits and Bytes program, participants will have the chance to meet with representatives from the different IT and engineering departments at UMBC, attend a college class, receive a tour of the UMBC campus and speak with a diverse group of UMBC students.

Students who are interested in the Bits and Bytes Program should:

Be female 

Be a junior in high school 

Have a 3.0 GPA or higher 

Have a strong interest in mathematics and science 

Possess a desire to learn 

Display leadership qualities

Students are encouraged to apply now for Bits & Bytes 2012! The online application is due by January 15, 2012 and you will be notified by January 20, 2012 if you have been accepted.

More information and photos from past events can be found on CWIT’s Newsletters and Photos page.

If you have any questions about the 2012 Bits and Bytes program, please contact Katie Glasser at (410) 455-8076.

Summer Enrichment Programs for High School Students at Howard University's School of Business!

Howard University’s School of Business is offering rising high school juniors and seniors a unique summer experience with unparalleled opportunities!

Summer Actuarial Program (SAP) 

June 17 – July 7, 2012

SAP is a 3-week residential program for rising 11^th & 12^th graders who have an un-weighted GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale and high mathematics test scores (>60 PSAT/600 SAT). Please direct any questions about the Summer Actuarial Program to Tya N. Boyden at 

(202) 806-1518. 

Accounting Career Awareness Program (ACAP)

June 17 – June 22, 2012

ACAP is a 1-week residential program for rising 11^th & 12^th graders who have an un-weighted GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. 

Computer Information Systems Career Awareness Program (CISCAP)

June 24 – June 29, 2012

CISCAP is a 1- week residential program for rising 11^th & 12^th graders who have an un-weighted GPA of a least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. For more information about the ACAP or CISCAP programs, please contact Nelson Santiago at (202) 806-1504.

While there are three (3) programs available, students can only attend one (1) program per summer. By participating in either of these programs, students will:

Have an opportunity to win scholarships to attend Howard University’s School of Business

Receive SAT prep

Get an introduction to "College Life" (i.e., dormitory life and freshman courses)

Be exposed to unique career opportunities in "hot fields"

Attend corporate site visits and network with corporate executives

Receive training in business etiquette and entrepreneurship

Participate in tours and outings in the nation's capital

The deadline to apply for the Summer Actuarial Program and the ACAP & CISCAP programs is

April 1, 2012. 

Please note that there is no cost to attend these summer programs. Participants will only have to provide for their transportation to and from Washington, DC.

Earn between $10.60 to $14.59/hour this summer with the Department of State!

 High school students who are interested in public service careers can intern this summer with the U.S. Department of State. The Department has a variety of student programs available that are designed to meet student interests, including their Summer Clerical program. 

The Department is currently accepting applications for the Summer Clerical program and job responsibilities for the position include, but are not limited to: 

Answering telephones and filing and maintaining files

Typing and/or using a computer terminal and a variety of computer software packages

Reviewing outgoing correspondence for correct format, grammar, punctuation and typographical errors 

Photocopying and assembling reports and briefings for distribution.

To qualify for a Summer Clerical position, you must be:  

A U.S. citizen, age 16 or older at the time of appointment

Taking at least half-time academic/vocational/or technical course load in an accredited high school, 2-year or 4 year college or university, graduate or professional school 

Be enrolled or accepted for enrollment as a degree (diploma, certificate, etc.) seeking student 

Able to complete a background investigation to determine eligibility for a security clearance. 

Please visit http://state.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetail/306000800 to enter the Gateway to State online application via USAJobs. The deadline to submit your completed application is next Wednesday, January 11, 2012.

Win $500 for writing about the role of engineering in providing safe and nutritious food!

 The National Academy of Engineering's Engineer Girl! website has recently announced their 12^th annual Essay Contest.

Shopping at your local Safeway or Giant is a different experience today than it was 50 years ago. Today, the food we eat comes from around the world and is often prepared in a variety of ways. Engineers are actively involved in every step of the process — they design the machines used to plant and harvest crops and they develop unique manufacturing processes to prepare, package and transport foods in safe and secure ways.

Please consider these popular foods:

Applesauce
Ice cream
Peanut butter
Potato chips
Sandwich bread
Spaghetti sauce

Grades 6-8 (No more than 750 words):

Choose one of the foods from the list and explain how it is produced, from the planting and harvesting of raw material to being ready to eat. Choose a technology critical to one or more steps in the process and explain how it works. Also, describe how different types of engineers (e.g. civil, mechanical, electrical, etc.) might have contributed to the design of the technology as well as key elements of that design.

Grades 9-12 (No more than 1,500 words):

Choose one of the foods from the list and explain how it is produced, from the planting and harvesting of raw material to being ready to eat. Choose a technology critical to one or more steps in that process and explain how it works. Describe how different types of engineers (e.g. civil, mechanical, electrical, etc.) might have contributed to the design of the technology as well as key elements of that design. Talk about what engineers are currently doing to improve this technology. Be sure to include your references.

 

How Do I Enter?

Write an essay which addresses the requirements in the contest description. Essays should be clearly written and while the essay may be shorter than the word limit, the essay should not exceed the word limit listed in the contest description. Submit your essay with the help of your parent/guardian using the Online Submission Form.

Entries must be received by  
6:00pm (EST) on March 1, 2012.

All winning entries will be published on the EngineerGirl! Website and:

First-place winners will be awarded $500

Second-place entries will be awarded $250

Third-place entries will be awarded $100

While honorable mention entries will not receive a cash award, their essays will be published on the EngineerGirl! website. 

If you have any questions, please contact the EngineerGirl! team at engineergirl@nae.edu.