Friday, June 25, 1999
Students trade summer fun for work, study
BY AMY CAPPIELLO
The Cincinnati Enquirer
DAYTON — While most of their peers are spending the summer by the pool or working to save money for a car, some rising high school seniors have headed back to the classroom.
Northern Kentucky University's campus has been inundated with 350 additional students this summer, members of the Governor's Scholars Program. Created in 1983 to cull Kentucky's brightest rising high school seniors, the program offers an intensive five-week program that focuses not only on academic achievement but also personal growth.
Once they arrive on campus, the students focus a majority of their time on a key area such as fine arts, biological issues, literary studies or psychology. The students also discuss leadership and community involvement.
“Part of the mission of the program is to train Kentucky's next generation of civic and economic leaders,” said Aris Cedeno, a professor of Spanish literature at the University of Louisville and the GSP dean on NKU's campus. “We hope that they not only learn something but that they learn about the problems of the state and their community and take that initiative when they go home and do something for their community.”
To help the students foster an interest in community affairs, some time is reserved each week for volunteer work.
“We do this because it's clear in our mind that these students are going to be successful in academics,” Mr. Cedeno said. “We don't need to teach them how to study or how to take a test. But we need to expose them to their community and the problems of it.”
As rain poured down Thursday, some scholars-turned-contractors spent the morning building interior walls for a Habitat for Humanity house in Dayton.
The community volunteer aspect particularly appealed to 17-year-old Joe Ruschell, a senior at Henry Clay High School in Lexington.
“You get to go out and spend time in the community, doing things you wouldn't normally get to do,” he said as water ran down his face. “I never thought I'd get to build a house in the rain.”
Most of the students said they chose to give up five precious summer weeks based solely on word of mouth. Older friends raved about their experiences.
“A lot of people I talked to said they made friends they stayed in touch with for life,” said Stephen Ham, 17, a senior at Owensboro High School.
Although they've only been at NKU for six days, the students said they enjoyed the classes they attended, community activities they took part in and people they met.
Mr. Ham, who is focusing on biological issues, spent a day with his group at a nearby creek collecting animals and testing the water.
Katherine Ross, a 16-year-old from Hopkinsville High School, is focusing on Spanish; her group will be attending a Catholic Mass celebrated entirely in Spanish.
For 16-year-old Elizabeth Bass, the trip away from Paducah provided her with an education that extended past the classroom.
“It's the first time being away from home and knowing you're not going back for a long time,” she said.
This year, 1,257 students applied for the program, and 707 were selected. For the seventh year, the program has been housed in part at Northern Kentucky University, where 350 students gathered Sunday to begin their educational camp. Another 357 students will descend on Centre College in Danville Sunday to begin their five-week program.
Funds from the governor's office and private donors help cover the cost for each pupil, which is estimated to be $1,250 for the five-week program.
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