By Jonathan Morales

2022年6月2日

萨克拉门托 State’s popular summer Youth Programs are back – and many have returned to campus following two years of virtual programming made necessary by the pandemic.

The programs, run through the 继续教育学院 (CCE), offer local middle and high school students weeklong immersive learning opportunities in a variety of fields while providing a preview of life on a college campus.

在27门课程中，大约有一半将在校园内亲自授课，这是CCE学术和专业项目临时副主任安娜·凯克（Anna Keck）在两年的完全在线教学后所期待的。

Keck said the transition back from virtual classes is “a little stressful” for her team as they get used to operating in person again.

“But our team is super excited to actually be able to have classes in person, engage with the students, and help the students build connections with the instructors, too,” she said.

Incoming seventh- through 10th-graders can participate in 学术浓缩 courses, where they explore a variety of subjects and preview college through hands-on courses. This year’s offerings include Introduction to Video Game Development, Gender Studies, Programming with Python, Acting for Stage and Screen, and Writing Effective Arguments.

高中生暑期学院 allow incoming high schoolers  through graduating seniors to preview career paths and college majors. This year’s academies include Future Teachers, Data Science, Law Enforcement, Cyber Security, and Entrepreneurship.

Classes run for a week at a time, and registration is open until a class is full – typically a maximum of 24 students, though some classes are smaller. 来自萨克州立大学和社区学院的教师以及当地专业人士教授这些课程。 可申请奖学金 帮助支付费用，并确保所有学生都能参加这些课程，无论他们的支付能力如何。

When COVID-19 forced most campus offices to switch to remote operations in March 2020, CCE 迅速转向确保他们能够继续提供在线暑期课程. CCE学术和专业项目主任本·费尔（Ben Fell）说，这次经历带来了一线希望。

“Especially with the need to maybe go remote or virtual for other reasons in the future, it's reassuring to know that we could do it, and we have a lot of best practices developed the past couple years,” Fell said.

凯克说，虚拟教学使这些课程能够接触到更广泛的受众，包括那些可能没有资源亲自前往萨克州立大学的人。

Part of the Youth Programs experience, however, is participants visiting 囊状态, getting a sense of college life, and possibly envisioning themselves as college students – maybe even a Hornet. 凯克说，面对面项目的回归使这种机会得以恢复，特别是对于那些可能没有这种机会的年轻人。

“The youth get to actually come onto campus when their class is in person. They get to see what a college campus is like,” she said. “A lot of the youth in the region have never had the opportunity to do that.”

More information about summer Youth Programs, including registration information, is on CCE网站.