FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 1, 2005
Contact: Ivey Ivy
Roger F. Wicker Center for Creative Learning
(662) 241-6101

Summer institutes at MUW provide enrichment opportunities for students
   
COLUMBUS, Miss.-- Eighty-seven Mississippi students entering grades eighth through 10th attended summer institutes hosted jointly by the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science and Mississippi University for Women as part of the GEAR UP: Mysterious Mississippi and CHAMPS projects.
   
Rising 10th graders from across the state participated in the GEAR UP: Mysterious Mississippi summer camp in June.  Faculty members from the Roger F. Wicker Center for Creative Learning at MUW and from MSMS partnered to offer the one-week residential, academic and enrichment program focusing on Mississippi’s contribution to the arts and humanities. 
   
Participants studied the works of Mississippi writers, musicians and artists.  They traveled to Oxford to explore museums, toured the home of William Faulkner and visited the University of Mississippi. Other activities included using digital cameras to document Mississippi sites and participating in the preparation of a traditional Southern meal under the instruction of MUW’s Culinary Arts Institute. Students also attended sessions on college and career planning.  Several participants expressed an interest in attending MSMS.
   
Two other CHAMPS (Creating High Achievement in Mathematics, Problem-Solving, and Science) Student Institutes were held on campus in June.  The one-week residential programs gave middle school students from the Mississippi Delta a chance to experience life on the MSMS campus.  Students attended daily math and science sessions led by faculty at MSMS, received valuable educational resources including a TI-83+ graphing calculator and were exposed to enrichment opportunities in astronomy, zoology and engineering.
   
“I loved it. I don’t want to leave. You can have fun and learn a ton at the same time. It is challenging which makes me more interested,” said one CHAMPS participant.
   
The academic day during CHAMPS was filled with high-level, experimental labs and activities in math and science. Subjects discussed ranged from bacteria growth to statistics. 
   
Another student said, “I’ve learned more in five days than I’ve learned in months.”
   
The success of the CHAMPS Students Institutes is due in large part to the dedication of the MSMS faculty who provided innovative learning experiences to students who might have never encountered such exciting math and science content.
   
The GEAR UP: Mysterious Mississippi project is a state funded grant project awarded to the Roger F. Wicker Center for Creative Learning at MUW and MSMS.  The CHAMPS Project is funded by a Jacob K. Javits grant for Gifted Education, which was awarded to MSMS in by the United States Department of Education.