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.聽聽
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.聽

The subtitle for this year鈥檚 seminar theme easily could have been something akin to: 鈥淗ow to Talk About Rejection and Failure in a Room Full of People.鈥� Talk about vulnerability鈥� Rejection can be hard enough to acknowledge on our own, let alone in a social context where comparisons and self-appraisals inevitably creep in, despite our best efforts. It鈥檚 a loaded topic by virtue of its innate capacity to conjure some of our deepest feelings of self-doubt, confusion, shame and disappointment. But it鈥檚 also that power that makes it a word worth talking about, especially in communities where the myths of perfection often linger amidst high personal, academic and social expectations, both real and perceived.

From March 15 鈥� 17, the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship community gathered at the DoubleTree in Downtown Los Angeles for the 16^th Annual Bradley Seminar. With over 270 guests, this was our largest event to date, representing over 30 states spanning from Maine to Colorado to Hawaii. Scholars, alumni, parents, staff and educators explored this year鈥檚 theme, Perspective 鈥� how it shapes our perception of ourselves and the world around us; how experiences of disappointment and rejection make it difficult to reframe our failures; and how resilience and mindfulness can offer strategies for navigating life with clearer perspective.

Our keynote speaker, Dr. Lauren Marlotte, Assistant Director of Training for the Division of Population Behavioral Health and Nathan Family Resilience Center at UCLA, shared her own perspective and research for developing healthy resilience, using tools like social connection, physical activity, and emotional regulation in times of toxic stress. Through cross-generational conversation, small group workshops and community activities, seminar guests continued to explore these questions throughout the weekend. CDB seniors initiated a project called the 鈥淩ejection Wall,鈥� an activity aimed at providing visibility on the topic of rejection, both academic and interpersonal, by inviting the community to share their own experiences and advice in writing. Scholars and parents alike were able to waive reservations and mutually contribute to these conversations, creating a spirit of solidarity and connection.

On Saturday afternoon, guests scattered around the local area for field trips and activities. CDB freshmen and parents ventured out from Little Tokyo to Pasadena via the Gold Line Metro (a personal favorite!) for an inaugural visit to the 优蜜视频 headquarters, The Barder House. Older scholars participated in various live-action puzzles at Escape Room LA. If you鈥檝e never done an escape room, I highly recommend this location 鈥� their themes and production value make the thrill of the countdown that much better. Parents, guests, and alumni visited nearby museums (Japanese American National Museum and Geffen Contemporary at MOCA) and explored the local charms of Little Tokyo, the Arts District and Downtown LA.

No CDB seminar would be complete without senior speeches. Always a highlight of the weekend, this year was particularly memorable as it marked the first graduating class since the program鈥檚 expansion in 2014. With 27 scholars, this is the largest senior class to date in CDB Scholarship program history. Coincidentally, 2014 was also my first year with the selection process 鈥� I still remember vivid details from various interviews that summer, my own nerves at times in competition with those of the interviewee. As this year also designated my last year with the CDB program, it was a fitting denouement to close out this final seminar weekend in tandem with the senior class of 2014. Their speeches spoke wisdom and humor in equal measure to their intelligence, passion, and ambition. Most, if not all, thanked Bonnie for her years of guidance and emails, trademarked by bold typeface and exclamation points en masse 鈥� a CDB tradition. The spirit of gratitude and authenticity was overwhelming. Not only from the graduating class, but the entire Caroline D. Bradley community. Reflecting on this year鈥檚 event, one scholar wrote: 鈥淚 feel like CDB has been a part of my life for much longer because of the deep friendships I’ve forged within the organization and the way I’ve been able to grow as a person due to this broader supportive community.鈥�

My hope is that, like this Scholar, every individual who participated in this year鈥檚 event feels that sense of community and connection. I know it is a feeling that will stick with me in continuity.

_ _ _ _

If you aren鈥檛 familiar with the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship, you can read more about this life-changing opportunity on our . 聽Since 2002, the program has identified over 250 highly motivated, gifted students across the country, providing merit-based tuition to the high school program that best meets each student鈥檚 personal and academic needs 鈥� private, public, charter, boarding, early college, online and homeschool hybrid. The seminar provides a meeting place annually for these students and focuses on personal growth through themes and topics which encourage conversation, connection, and authenticity.

Are you having trouble finding the ideal resources for your gifted child? Are you overwhelmed by the quantity of resources but desperate for a way to narrow down your search? Our (GRC), a free public tool created and curated by 优蜜视频, currently has over 650 carefully-vetted resources sorted into six categories: Advocacy, Articles and Media, Gifted Programs and Services, Scholarships and Competitions, Schools and Twice-Exceptional (2E). Viewers can search for a keyword and filter their results by location, grade range, resource type and more. Each GRC entry includes a description, contact information and a direct link to the website.

As the number of entries expands, the GRC continues to grow as an exemplary online database of resources for gifted preK-12 learners. The number of visitors for the first half of 2018 has almost surpassed that for all of 2017, which means the GRC audience is doubling in size!

Have you explored the GRC lately? Get started by perusing the 10 most-viewed resources so far in 2018:

1. (Grades K-12)

The Independent School Alliance (ISA) is a leading organization in private school admissions counseling and placement. Since 1985, ISA has provided access and opportunities at the elementary and secondary level to thousands of students across Southern California on behalf of parents of color who are seeking an independent school environment for their academically strong and motivated child.

2. (Grades 9-12)

The UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science in conjunction with the Engineering Science Corps Outreach Program offers an eight-week summer program that encourages each of its high school participants to consider a future in engineering.

3. (Grades 3-6)

The Nicholas Green Distinguished Student Award Program awards $500 scholarships to high-ability students in grades 3-6.聽 Review their website to see if the program is available in your state.

4. (Grades 4-10)

Designed and led by experts in the field of gifted youth, 优蜜视频鈥檚 own Yunasa Summer Camps support the whole gifted child, encouraging growth and support of campers intellectually, socially, emotionally, spiritually and physically. Camps are offered every summer in Sedalia, Colorado and Flint, Michigan and are open to campers nationwide ages 10 to 15.

5. (All Ages)

This article by Barbara Swicord, Ed.D., discusses how problem-based learning, also known as project-based learning, can be a great start to help educators who are looking for a solution to many problems in the classrooms as well as a way to meet the needs of gifted students.

6. (Grades 5-8)

Formerly Reid Day School, the Learning Academy as part of Stepping Stones Therapy in Orange County believes that education is a personal journey for every family and offers a variety of specialized and individualized programs. Through small group instruction, with high teacher to student ratio, they will promote and execute success for your learner鈥檚 home school program. Stepping Stones also offers educational, occupational, speech, and physical therapy in addition to social skills training.

7. (Grades K-12)

The American Association for Development of the Gifted and Talented (AADGT) helps young, extraordinarily gifted classical musicians and artists. AADGT was established in 1993 and since then has helped hundreds of artists and aspiring young musicians from around the world.

8. (Grades 2-8)

The Noetic Learning Math Contest is a semiannual problem-solving contest for elementary and middle school students. The goal of the competition is to encourage students鈥� interest in math, to develop their problem-solving skills and to inspire them to excel in math.

9. (Grades 6-12)

Since 2003, the Art of Problem Solving (AoPS) online school has provided a unique learning experience carefully designed for outstanding students interested in studying online. AoPS offers a full math curriculum for middle and high school, introductory programming courses and specialty courses to prepare students for particular math and science competitions.

10. (Grades 1-8)

The Gifted Students Academy is an intensive summer program for gifted students in grades 1 through 8. Participants select courses in each of the major subject areas of math, science, language arts, social studies and the arts and may attend as a commuter student or reside on campus in the UCI residence halls.

Visit the to explore more resources for parents and educators.

What are some resources that have helped you as a parent or educator? Share them in the comments section below!

In ninth grade, while studying for midterms and slogging through term papers, I started daydreaming about how I wanted to spend my summer. 聽Ideally, I wanted to do scientific research, but given my age, I wasn鈥檛 sure what types of opportunities were available. 聽That鈥檚 when I learned about , which offers high school students a chance to work with distinguished mentors doing hands-on research in many different fields for three and six-week externships during the summer. I sent in my application to 优蜜视频, interviewed, and to my surprise, I was accepted into this prestigious program.

In the EXPLORE program, I worked as an extern for four days a week onsite with my mentor and research team and then attended career-oriented workshops off-site once a week. During these weekly seminars, industry leaders lead discussions in regards to interviewing skills, resume writing, presentation skills, and applying to college. The program was launched and coordinated with the assistance of 优蜜视频鈥檚 Ms. Ni帽a Abonal, who matched up students to mentors as well as helped organize our meetings. Before our externship, we learned about the layout of our worksite and completed any training needed to work safely onsite at the university research labs. The externships were at various locations and college campuses in the Los Angeles area and included opportunities in diverse areas, including the sciences, arts, and humanities.

As an 优蜜视频 extern, I enjoyed attending the weekly workshops, and it also gave me the chance to meet other high school externs and to learn about their projects in diverse fields such as computer science, medical research, and the arts. For my externship, I worked with Dr. Van Savage and his research team at UCLA for three weeks to develop mathematical computer-based models of vascular networks. This externship gave me the opportunity to assist with ongoing research that will lead to improved diagnosis of abnormalities such as cancers and circulatory diseases, which are leading causes of human suffering, illness, and death. Currently, the standard way for doctors to detect and identify these types of abnormalities is visually, which is not always accurate or reliable. I relished the opportunity to develop a computer model based on mathematical principles. What made the project particularly unique for me was combining the computer model with MRI data from living organisms to detect vascular abnormalities far sooner than is currently available.

It amazes me that mentors such as Dr. Savage volunteer to work with high school students, and I did my best to show my appreciation by being flexible and willing to help the team however needed. In working with Dr. Savage, I was able to gain knowledge of the area we researched, as well as a big-picture understanding of both where I fit into the project and where the project fits into the larger body of the research. Although Dr. Savage was busy leading multiple research projects, he still found the time to help and even have lunch with us. Dr. Savage also gave me the opportunity to work closely with his team, and the externs were integrated into the daily research process and supervised by Dr. Savage and other post-doctoral researchers on his group. The biggest surprise was to see my picture and bio included on Dr. Savage鈥檚 website of people on his research team, which includes post-graduate, graduate, college, and other high school students.

I appreciate that Dr. Savage showed me how I could use my interests and skills to give back to my community by applying abstract knowledge learned in school to help improve the lives of others. I would recommend 优蜜视频鈥檚 EXPLORE program because it encourages and challenges students to achieve new goals and to explore alternative fields of study. It also helps students gain a realistic perspective of a premier university research environment as well as affording students the opportunity to expand their network of academic mentors.

Would you like to be connected with a professional mentor this summer? Applications are due by April, 16th.

Read Part 1 of the series .

Like this post?聽聽to receive more stories, information, and resources about gifted youth straight to your inbox.

As an intern at the UCLA Department of Biomathematics for the past two summers, I have developed as a researcher, as well as a person, under the mentorship of Dr. Van Savage. Two years ago, when I first started the , I had no idea what biomathematics was. All I knew was that it sounded fun and I was excited to learn more. Dr. Savage shared my same enthusiasm about what I was learning and was extremely involved, sharing papers, presentations, and websites – anything that would help me become a better researcher. He gave me opportunities to work with other talented students and postdoctorates, whom I learned a great deal from.

My first year work involved comparing two versions of vessel extraction software, Angicart and Angicart++, and studying the theory behind scaling properties of blood vessel networks. I ran 3D angiographic image data through software to output blood vessel properties. I also taught myself MATLAB and developed code that I used to study the outputted properties and calculate scaling ratios. Dr. Savage helped me through every step along the way, always available to answer questions, providing me a place to work, and making sure that I was learning and having fun.

I was incredibly excited when Dr. Savage mentioned the prospect of me coming back to work with him this past summer. I had made significant progress over the six weeks I spent working in his lab the summer before, and I was eager to continue where I left off. From my data mining and machine learning classes I took at school that year, I learned the basics of various classification methods such as decisions trees, principal component analysis, and neural networks and implemented the methods in Python. With my knowledge of machine learning tools and GitHub, I wrote a Python notebook for the project that can be shared with others. In my code, I used Python’s logistic regression functions and support vector machine functions in the scikit-learn package to study the differences between animal vasculature and plant vasculature. The functions I wrote clean datasets 聽from the C++ vessel extraction software, then plot and analyze the data with decision boundaries. Dr. Savage and I are now working on a research paper summarizing the results of this project.

I learned from my research experience with Dr. Savage that research requires both perseverance and passion. Often, I would spend hours and hours working on a single function in the data analysis process without even knowing if the analysis was going to prove useful. This year, while working on classifying animal and plant networks, it took weeks to collect the angiographic images, generate a large enough dataset, and clean the data.

Despite how challenging and time-consuming the research was, I learned so much and truly enjoyed it. Dr. Savage helped me fully discover my passion in interdisciplinary computer science and biology research. I improved my coding skills, applied knowledge I gained in class to real data, and learned how to present my findings more effectively. These skills have helped me better communicate my ideas to other people.

Throughout the project, I constantly came up with new ideas and questions that I could ask Dr. Savage, and he further fueled my creativity and drive. Through Dr. Savage鈥檚 mentorship, I became fascinated by the way nature abides to mathematical laws and the predictive power of new computing technologies. I became eager to learn more about the interrelatedness of biology and computer science, and I developed skills that I will be using for the rest of my life.

Would you like to be connected with a professional mentor this summer? Applications are due by April, 16th.

Read Part 2 of the series .

Like this post?聽聽to receive more stories, information, and resources about gifted youth straight to your inbox.

优蜜视频鈥檚 EXPLORE program is in full swing! This year, the selection and placement process was especially competitive as students vied for a chance to work with distinguished mentors and sites willing to host only a selected number of students. In addition to meeting site specific pre-requisites, applicants underwent a rigorous application process which included participating in a phone interview and submitting two letters of recommendation, two essays, a professional resume, academic transcripts, standardized test scores, and sample work.

After students were vetted and selected for the program, they were thoughtfully matched with mentors who shared similar passions in their career field of interest and had professional trajectories externs hoped to pursue in the future. In the end, 20 exceptional students were placed to work and conduct college level research at eight mentor sites throughout the Greater Los Angeles area. Each student demonstrated excellence in education, strong leadership skills, a passion for learning, and a desire to continuously challenge themselves. Mentors who saw their extern鈥檚 profile and resume were impressed at how accomplished and adept these young people were, despite only being in high school.

To prepare Cohorts 1 and 2 for their externship experience, students participated in a weekend orientation at . They had an opportunity to get acquainted with their peers, engage in team building activities, including a scavenger hunt around UCLA, and participate in a professional development workshop focused on strengthening their communication, conflict management, and networking skills. Students offered great insights during discussions and contributed their talents and knowledge to various activities throughout the day. Following the orientation students hit the ground running as they delved into their mentor鈥檚 research and worked to develop their final research projects. In a few more weeks, nine students from Cohort 3 will begin their externship experience at the .

As a new component of EXPLORE, students meet every Friday to attend educational excursions and workshops geared towards building their college and career readiness. Workshops not only provide a supportive forum for externs for share their triumphs and challenges from the work week, but they also allow externs 聽to learn from experts who share their insights about finding the right college fit, writing personal narratives for college, interviewing and writing resumes, assessing personality and career fit, and developing financial literacy. This addition has proved to be a wonderful way to create a strong sense of community among brilliant, like-minded young people.

With only a few more weeks left, students will soon be culminating from EXPLORE and presenting their final research projects at the EXPLORE Culmination ceremonies on July 27^th and August 11^th. If you鈥檙e curious about the great work these students are doing, please join us in the celebration during 优蜜视频鈥檚 Summer Spotlight event!

EXPLORE would not be possible without the generosity of time, knowledge, and expertise of our dedicated mentors. We appreciate the continued support and dedication of our mentors and would like to extend our gratitude to EXPLORE 2017 Mentors:

If you are a 9^th-11^th grade high school student who would like to gain hands-on experience and study a specific career field of interest, consider applying to EXPLORE next summer! Check out the for updates about deadlines and future mentor sites.

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March Madness in almost here, making college basketball top-of-mind. And so I perked up at last week鈥檚 California Association for the Gifted Conference when Dr. Sandra Kaplan mentioned that UCLA鈥檚 basketball team takes ballet classes. This caused me to sit up and think. Any young woman or man playing on a Division I basketball team is a gifted athlete. But ballet?

Well, yes, ballet. There is a lot of fancy footwork going on down below while basketball players are busy dribbling, passing, shooting and dunking.聽 Watching the Lehigh versus Bucknell Patriot League Conference Tournament Championship game, and looking only below the knees, I saw dance. Pirouettes, jet茅s, leaps, and the occasional third and fourth position were all there. Lehigh鈥檚 Tim Kempton (6鈥�10鈥�, 245 pounds, 20.4 PPG) would make a wonderful Rat King in The Nutcracker.

This all begs a few questions. Can an art inform a sport? Can sport inform an art? Can students advance in one field because they explored another? By combining unrelated fields, will our gifted scholar-athletes create a greater exceptionality? And what does this mean for us?

I am an independent college counselor, often working with gifted students as they apply for college. (I am also an 优蜜视频 mother and consultant.) Some families consult with me when their students are just entering high school, so I see exciteabilities develop over the course of four years. Before taking on Dr. Kaplan鈥檚 question, I knew, but I didn鈥檛 comprehend, how ballet made for better basketball. My happiest students have been telling me for years that they like it when they mix things up, when obvious skills and interests become companion to less obvious skills and interests. Reflecting back, I see that those students who intellectualize their giftedness were among my most joyful.聽 Here are some first hand examples.

My first inkling this was happening came fifteen years ago, from a Mentor supervising five high-school-aged 优蜜视频 Apprentices in a material science research lab. (优蜜视频鈥檚 Apprenticeship Program has evolved into the , both outstanding.) These Apprentices were similar in lab skills and science understanding. One stood out, however, because of his English skills. Specifically, he could more quickly tease out ideas shared in conversation, read manuals and reports in and out of context, and clearly stated questions that moved ideas forward. Early on, he became the student leader because everyone in the lab understood him. He is now a very successful computer scientist. (And an aside: research labs are often home to scientists from around the world and of many languages, so clarity of communication makes for better science.)

I鈥檝e had many students with exceptional mathematical abilities, and their stories speak directly to drawing energy from unusual sources. Four of them were quite upfront that their love of math was fueled outside of math classes. One, a Berkeley graduate, said that creative writing relaxed her into a feeling of bliss, and then, without any notes, she would imagine the answers to her problem sets. Another, now a math major at Reed, described how her remarkable sophomore year English teacher inspired her, through close textual reading, to consider multiple approaches to any problem. A UC San Diego math major told me he feels strongly that poetry and math are the same subject–economy of ideas鈥攁nd so he approaches them in tandem. And another student, bound for college in 2018, craves playing golf every day because it is so much fun to watch parabolas on the fairway.

And it鈥檚 not just my mathematicians. One student, a Harvard graduate, became a better Russian language student when she started playing the piano every day. A current Berkeley undergraduate understands literature more deeply on days when she sees poor immigrants walk into traffic to sell flowers. One of my favorite students this year keeps finding ideas for prosthetic designs watching movies that are not about prosthetics. One young man, Cal Tech bound, described how ideas come while he paints. If he didn鈥檛 paint, would he have these ideas?

Lastly, and saluting March Madness, I have worked with both a semi-professional dancer, and a winning basketball player. My dancer, on History: 鈥淵ep, the world has always been all about ebb and flow.鈥� And my basketball player thinks his internship in a research university鈥檚 chemistry lab is less akin to science classes and more like passing just outside the paint: 鈥淭he graduate students throw ideas around faster than a good offense, so I鈥檓 still hustling to keep my eye on the ball.鈥�

Our students give us their giftedness; our efforts should include enabling their intellectualism. The UCLA coach who first enrolled the basketball team in ballet is now a personal role model. Dr. Kaplan鈥檚 workshop, 鈥淕iftedness versus Intellectualism,鈥� has prompted me to think of ways to help my students identify and encourage the productive combinations in their lives.

For me, as an independent college counselor, that means more time listening and waiting for the student to share enough so that I can ask more direct questions. For a gifted student, who feels his or her exciteabilities more strongly, working at this intersection is key. Within my niche in their lives, answers to those questions make for powerful application essays.

Sometimes we talk about nurturing a gifted student鈥檚 spirituality. For me, the mere though was daunting, so I stayed away. It is easy to get tripped up here because many of us equate 鈥渟pirituality鈥� with 鈥渞eligion.鈥� But that was never gifted educators鈥� intention鈥攊nstead, it is something wholly interior, unseen, and a powerful animator. Perhaps a mathematician鈥檚 spirituality lies in poetry.

Kate Duey is a private college counselor serving gifted students. She has worked with students who are age-mates with their graduating high school class, home schooled students, community college students, and students seeking accelerated or early college entrance. Kate is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School. She has a Certificate in College Counseling from UCLA. She also has three incredible daughters.

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鈥淭ell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.鈥�

Benjamin Franklin鈥檚 quote embodies the sort of impact a mentor can have in a young person鈥檚 life. Mentors are truly extraordinary individuals who are willing to share and dedicate their time, expertise, knowledge and skills to positively influence the lives of young people. They get them involved in relevant work and activities that extend beyond the confines of their classroom and nurtures their interests and passions.

This summer, 优蜜视频 introduced its reimagined mentorship program for high school students, EXPLORE, which is short for Externships Providing Leadership Opportunities for Research and Education. In its inaugural year, 22 highly motivated and exceptional high school students were selected to extern at 12 mentor sites throughout the Greater Los Angeles area, including Art Center College of Design, Caltech, Children鈥檚 Hospital Los Angeles, CoachArt, Kadenze, and various departments within UCLA and USC. While most students were Los Angeles natives, others traveled from out-of-state, including Rhode Island, Illinois, and Washington, to spend a summer immersed in research work. They represented a diverse population of learners from different cultural, social, and economic backgrounds. They also brought with them unique talents and an impressive list of academic and personal accolades.

To kick off the program, all externs participated in a day-long Professional Development Orientation hosted at the Art Center College of Design, one of 优蜜视频鈥檚 long-standing mentor sites. During orientation, students met their fellow externs, participated in team building activities, listened to a talk from Caltech Mentor Dr. Lynne Hillenbrand, and learned about professional skills to prepare them for their externship.

For most high school students, there are few opportunities in a traditional classroom to delve into an area of study for an extended period of time. Their daily schedule and academic grind often forces them to spread their focus on a laundry list of classes, assignments, exams and extra-curricular activities. EXPLORE externs, however, had the unique opportunity to apply their learning beyond the classroom and pursue their passions and interests in a specific field of study. Each extern engaged in two to six weeks of summer research work and projects with mentors who were preeminent professionals in their field. Externs worked in a variety of professional settings, from research laboratories and university classrooms to business offices and creative tech spaces. Externs based in academic lab settings were exposed to the often arduous, but intellectually stimulating, task of reading research papers on their topic, running lab tests, learning new computer programming language, compiling and analyzing data, and contributing their findings in a final research paper. Conversely, externs based at creative sites participated in hands-on workshops to strengthen their artistic skills, collaborated on projects with college-level students and professionals, gained exposure to new technologies for producing artistic works, and learned about the important roles and operations within a successful organization. Externs not only conducted real-world, college-level research, and were exposed to a variety of professional environments, but they also learned valuable life skills like taking public transportation to work and navigating their way around large college campuses.

Upon completion of the program, externs presented their final research or project during EXPLORE鈥檚 Culmination Celebrations, held at the Barder House on July 8^th and July 22^nd. During these events, we celebrated the accomplishments of our externs and learned about the impressive work they completed at their respective sites. Students presented on such research topics as: statistical trends in the use of the word 鈥渆volve鈥� and its variants, liposome synthesis, drawbridge message authentication, analytical technologies to measure human performance, and necrotizing enterocolitis. The hard work and level of sophistication of each research project was evident as each extern spoke eloquently and proudly about their work. There is no doubt that these talented young people will be paving the way for innovative research in the future.

In addition to having a brilliant cohort of EXPLORE externs, the program would not be possible without the support of our Mentors who cultivated their skills, talents, and interests. 优蜜视频 would like to extend our gratitude to EXPLORE 2016 Mentors:

If you are a high school student who would like to gain real-world experience and study a specific field of interest, consider applying to EXPLORE next summer! Check out the for updates about deadlines and future mentor sites.

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Ni帽a Abonal graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a B.A. in Business Administration and a minor in Elementary Education. She later returned to LMU to earn聽her Master of Arts in Educational Studies. With a decade of experience working聽in educational non-profits, she has taken on various roles including tutoring K-8 students in all subject areas, providing SAT prep, serving as a college advisor for a virtual college access program, and coordinating internships for high school students. During her free time, she enjoys volunteering, hiking, exploring new places to eat, and spending time with her family. She is eager to continue her passion working with youth at 优蜜视频 and hopes to continually seek innovative ways to improve the quality of and access to educational resources for all students.

Gifted students and their families face special challenges during the college search and application process. 优蜜视频 parent and supporter Kate Duey recently spoke to a group of parents and students about these challenges during an 优蜜视频 Gifted Child Parent Support Group Meeting.

Below聽are some of the resources Kate聽recommends聽on college selection and admissions聽for gifted students.

Online Comprehensive Resources

Books for Gifted Applicants聽

Interesting Webpages for Gifted Applicants

Books for All College Applicants

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Scientists @ Work 鈥� Advanced Research Workshops

San Marino, California

Offered March through May 2015

Scientists @ Work evening workshops are designed to advance students鈥� intellectual curiosity through access to new knowledge from research scientists in the Los Angeles area. Working with a professional scientist, students will be introduced to the skills needed to be a successful scientific researcher in areas such as coding, mechanical engineering, or advanced physics.

These evening workshops led by Caltech researchers will include a lecture, seminar, and hands-on learning experience. Space will be limited.

Tuition*: $25 per workshop or $60 for 3 workshops

Summer Apprenticeship 2015

Los Angeles and Pasadena, California

June 22-August 7, 2015

优蜜视频鈥檚 summer Apprenticeship Program is more than an internship 鈥� it鈥檚 a place where high potential students can advance their intellectual passions with incredible mentors. Apprenticeship 2015 is non-residential and will provide opportunities for immersion in engaging research and the chance to meet peers with shared interests. Apprentices will work as professionals during the day, and in the evening, they will enjoy weekly social gatherings and workshops with lead college advisors, counselors, and other experts.

Local gifted high school students are invited to apply for this prestigious experience. Apprentices will be placed at Caltech, USC, and Children鈥檚 Hospital Los Angeles, where they will work with a team of professionals to gain hands-on, intellectually stimulating advanced research experience in a field of their choice.

Summer Apprenticeship is a place for students to develop their passions alongside helpful professionals.

Tuition*: $1,400

Academy for High School

San Marino, California

April 6-May 30, 2015

As our students grow, we grow. For the first time, will offer STEM classes for high school students during the Spring Session. These challenging enrichment classes focus on exploration and application of knowledge and are taught by content area specialists. Schedules will be announced in early March 鈥� stay tuned for more details!

These are amazing opportunities for young adults. As one 2014 Apprentice said:

鈥淭he experience of actually doing work in astrophysics, rather than just learning things in a classroom, was a very valuable experience that taught me a lot about the environment and the world of work and research. I also discovered that I would want to be in that environment, something that is hard to determine when just learning about astronomy in the regular classroom.鈥�

In addition to these new and updated program offerings in the Los Angeles area, 优蜜视频 continues to provide our Yunasa and Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship for teenagers nationwide.

• 优蜜视频’s awards highly gifted applicants with a four-year scholarship to a high school that fits their individual intellectual and personal needs. Students apply in 7th grade.

• 优蜜视频’s pioneering and award-winning unite highly able youngsters ages 10-15 with experts in the social and emotional development of gifted children. In a nurturing setting campers explore and grow the intellectual, spiritual, emotional, social, and physical aspects of their lives.

*Financial aid for all 优蜜视频 programs is available to families in need.

The Apprenticeship Program is not sponsored or endorsed by Caltech, UCLA or USC.

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