Detroit Program To Begin College Prep at Middle-School Level
Lawrence Technological University (LTU) in suburban Detroit has pledged
$3.5 million
in scholarship funding and long-term academic support in an effort to improve the
science,
technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) skills of students
at Detroit Public Schools' Sampson-Webber Leadership Academy.
Fifty middle school
students
at Sampson-Webber, a K-8 school with about 400 students, will become
Blue Devil
Scholars this fall. Another 50 will join the program each year until it
reaches
a critical mass of about 300 and eventually will include students as
young as
kindergarten age.
The program will
start
immediately with a professional development component for Sampson-Webber
teachers as they become proficient in project-based learning and
active-collaborative learning. Modules with STEAM content will be
included in
their middle-school courses and LTU students will act as tutors.
Once the students
complete
their middle-school work at Sampson-Webber, they will continue in the
program
at Detroit
Collegiate Preparatory at Northwestern
High
School, where they will choose one of five STEAM
tracks — art,
design, math and science, technology and management, or engineering —
that will
be created for them by LTU faculty and students in conjunction with high
school
teachers. Dual-enrollment classes the students take during their high
school
years will allow them to earn certificates for 12 to 15 college credits
that
can be used when they move on to be college students at LTU.
"We are confident that students who successfully complete the blue devil scholars program will be well-prepared to do well soon they
arrive on campus as freshmen," said LTU President Virinder Moudgil.
About the Author
Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.