1. Where else can you find amazing classes such as Hacker Calculus, Zoo Design, Geochemistry and Create and Rule Your Own Country? Our schedule is packed with inspiring, creative and one-of-a-kind offerings for bright students that you won鈥檛 find anywhere else. Click for the full list.
2. We also have three curricula! This summer, we鈥檒l be offering Black Death, It鈥檚 Electrifying: Fueling the Future and The Penguin Predicament. These curricula are NAGC award-winning and her past offerings are always popular. They utilize problem-based learning (PBL) approach and allow students to take on roles, help solve problems and navigate real-world situations.
3. Our are top-notch! Not only do they provide outstanding enrichment, guided inquiry, and incredible content, but they also bring with them impressive backgrounds and experience: JPL, CalTech, USC, The Natural History Museum, The Huntington Library, UCLA, MIT and much more.
4. At Academy students love to learn! This isn鈥檛 summer school 鈥� it鈥檚 summer enrichment, packed with peers that value learning for all the challenge, new perspectives and flat-out fun it provides. Interested in meeting like-minded peers? Join us this summer!
5. Rockets, explosions and dissections 鈥� oh, my! Academy classes are hands-on and designed to promote building, construction, tinkering, art, experiments, role-playing and debate. As the saying goes, we鈥檙e not afraid to get our hands dirty 鈥� and neither should you!聽
6. More than just classes: we offer free community events throughout the summer, such as student-led workshops, movie nights and an open house 鈥� and who knows what else might pop up? Our Learning Center is the perfect place not only for classes, but for meeting new peers and parents through fun and engaging events and activities that allow for socialization, games, free play and conversation.
7. New science lab! Have you heard? The Learning Center now has a science wet lab, complete with science equipment and technology, sinks, workstations and lab tables and stools. We鈥檒l be utilizing this space for the first time this summer and couldn鈥檛 be more excited to engage in scientific inquiry in an authentic environment.听聽
8. Two words: 3D printer! Our Hacker Calculus course, running for the first time this summer, will include use of the printer and building visual models of calculus concepts and equations.There are still spots available in sessions II and III!
9. Here, There Be Dragons! Our Dungeons and Dragons course is running in sessions I and III and spots are still available. Historically one of our most popular courses, this class engages students in fantasy, decision making, leadership, social skills and strategy. Don鈥檛 miss out on your chance to embark on the many exciting journeys of this class!
10. Flexible schedule: We offer four classes per session for each of three age groups 鈥� and the choice is up to you! From just one class to a full-day option, you can customize your schedule to best meet your interests and learning needs. The Academy Team would be happy to answer any questions and discuss the different course options with you, so please don鈥檛 hesitate to give us a call: (626) 403-8900.

We look forward to seeing you at Academy this summer!

The Summer Academy application deadline is May 29. to learn more and to submit your application today.听

Every gifted child has a unique story. The following story is part of a series of posts highlighting gifted children and adults we have found through 优蜜视频 programs, depicting the many faces of gifted. 优蜜视频鈥檚 – mentioned in this story 鈥� links gifted high school students from across the country with mentors who advance each participant鈥檚 skills through the application of knowledge and exposure to real world experiences.

Garrett Marcotte
优蜜视频 Apprentice at Avery Research Center in 2004
Software engineer, Facebook

鈥淛ust go for it, because the earlier you gain experience, the greater the benefits you鈥檒l reap from that experience later on. Push yourself beyond your comfort zone, and never be discouraged by failure. Learn from it and do better next time, because you will improve.鈥� – Garrett Marcotte

As a high school sophomore, Garrett participated in 优蜜视频鈥檚 Apprenticeship Program, working with Avery Research Center. Today, Garrett is a software engineer at Facebook, designing and writing the code that makes the popular social networking service work.

After high school, Garrett attended Princeton University and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science and Engineering degree in Electrical Engineering and minors in Computer Science and Robotics. While at Princeton, Garrett took every class he could in all subject areas because he 鈥渄idn鈥檛 want to miss out on any of it.鈥�

Garrett has worked in a variety of jobs, including internships at JPL and Google, a research position at USC, and as a teacher鈥檚 assistant and grader at Princeton. He also spent a summer trying (unsuccessfully) to launch an internet start-up company.

Garrett has been at Facebook for about 18 months and enjoys the work very much. He hopes to get involved again in a start-up company someday. 鈥淚鈥檓 particularly interested in applying technology to education, politics, non-profits, and global issues, so I could easily see myself doing something in that area. But there鈥檚 so much exciting innovation going on all around me every day that I鈥檓 really just trying to keep pace with all the opportunities and go wherever I can have the most impact and really make a difference in the world.鈥�

Although a Facebook IPO is looming, Garrett focuses on the task at hand:

What really attracted me to Facebook was the opportunity to touch the lives of hundreds of millions of people on a daily basis, to contribute to a product that has changed the world, from the individual level of reconnecting friends and families up to the international level of helping millions organize for a common cause. In the Silicon Valley tech world there’s a strong belief that if you build a great product then you will be rewarded accordingly. Facebook is no exception, so the focus of all the employees that I know, from Mark Zuckerberg on down, is the same as it’s always been: to make Facebook the best that we possibly can and a real force for good in the world.

Garrett credits the Apprenticeship Program with giving him a huge jump start on his life path in several ways:

First, it helped me evaluate my interests. The fact that I signed up for a chemistry program but ended up spending most of time programming and working with electronics made it pretty clear where my real passion lay. And it was due to the diversity of projects available and freedom in selecting a project that I was able to reach that realization. Second, the program was a stepping-stone to future opportunities. The experience of owning a project, driving an end-to-end solution, and working within all the constraints of a real-world environment formed a central part of my college applications and job interviews for several years after the program. Finally, I jumped several years ahead of the curve in the field of signal processing, and in particular the most important software program in that field, Matlab. Most of my peers had no exposure to either of these until college, and because of that I was prepared for higher level courses and more advanced opportunities at a younger age. For example, I鈥檓 certain that I would not have been able to intern at JPL right out of high school if it hadn鈥檛 been for the skills I picked up during the Apprenticeship Program.

Although Garrett doesn鈥檛 see the other Apprentices on a regular basis, their paths have crossed a few times. 鈥淭he shared experience of the Apprenticeship program really is a common bond that ties us together even after several years.鈥�

For more about Garrett’s Apprenticeship at Avery Research Center, read聽.听

There are still聽spots available for our Apprenticeship Program in Los Angeles and San Diego. !

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Every gifted child has a unique story. The following story is the first in a series of posts highlighting gifted children and adults we have found through 优蜜视频 programs, depicting the many faces of gifted. 优蜜视频鈥檚 聽– mentioned in this story – links gifted high school students from across the country with mentors who advance each participant鈥檚 skills through the application of knowledge and exposure to real world experiences.

Dr. Trevor Muirhead
优蜜视频 Apprentice in 1999
Resident at Henry Ford Hospital, Department of Dermatology, Michigan

Trevor Muirhead didn鈥檛 know what he should do the summer before his senior year that would stand out on his high school resume. It was Trevor鈥檚 school counselor at Long Beach Polytechnic High School that pitched him the idea of applying to the Institute for Educational Advancement鈥檚 brand new .

We introduced our Apprenticeship Program to Southern California high school students with one class in the summer of 1999. Robotics was being mentored by K.G. Engelhardt, a former Manager of Robotics for NASA and Director of the Center for Human Service Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University.

The one week residential session was held at the University of Southern California (USC). The Apprentices worked closely with Dr. Engelhardt to research, design and develop four wheel 鈥渟ervice鈥� robots using robotic kits and computer chips.

In addition to classroom time, the Apprentices visited some scientific and cultural landmarks in Los Angeles. One of the highlights for Trevor was the trip to the MarsYard at JPL in Pasadena. This sandy outdoor environment simulated the Martian landscape and was used to test different robotic prototypes. The Apprentices also visited museums and a local hospital where robots served patients their meals. To mark the end of the class, the Apprentices were given the task of programming their robots to dance in sync with each others鈥� robots.

Trevor graduated Valedictorian of his high school class in 2000 and went on to spend eight years at USC, completing his undergrad and medical school education there as part of the USC Baccalaureate/M.D. Program. Trevor鈥檚 college path enabled him to continue studying in areas he found interesting besides medicine (he double majored in biology and history). Trevor explained that in today鈥檚 med schools students are taking majors other than just science. 鈥淒o something you enjoy and enrich your education,鈥� he said.

In 2003, he and two other USC undergrads won the top Humanities prize in the school鈥檚 Undergraduate Research Symposium (a university-wide scholarly competition) for their recreation of the ancient city of Troy. The team used photography, 3-D graphics, drawings, videos, web links and literature to develop an amazingly realistic replica of Troy that is still available for viewing at . Trevor said that in addition to the scholarship money he received by winning this prize, he was invited to visit George Lucas鈥� Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, California. There was also an 聽about the Troy Project.

After graduating USC鈥檚 Medical School, Trevor interned at Olive View Hospital in Los Angeles in Internal Medicine. After the one year, 80-hour-per-week internship, he moved to Michigan to begin the three year Residency program in Dermatology at Henry Ford Hospital. As a Resident, Trevor works about 50 hours a week and spends a lot of outside work time studying and researching. His Residency involves treating all types of skin ailments including cancers, growths and infections of the hair, skin and nails. After finishing his Residency and passing the National Board Exams in Dermatology, Trevor plans to move back to Southern California and join a private practice later this summer.

鈥淭he Apprenticeship Program certainly played a significant role in influencing my education path, not that I pursued Robotics, but it fostered scientific exploration which I applied to other fields,鈥� Trevor said. 鈥淎lso, the Apprenticeship Program introduced me to USC, and without it I very well may have attended another university which would have likely altered both my career and life paths.鈥�

An interview with Trevor and his classmate about their Troy project is available here: .

Does Trevor鈥檚 summer experience as an 优蜜视频 Apprentice sound like something your gifted high school student would enjoy? Applications are currently being accepted for Apprenticeship.听聽!

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