We are looking for 9th-12th grade high school students to participate in a free, academic enrichment program funded by the National Institutes of Health SEPA program. This enrichment program is titled: Exploring Drug Use and Addiction: A Neuroscientific Approach. The program has 2 parts: a Summer Camp and an Afterschool program. Maximum educational benefit occurs when students participate in both the Summer Camp and Afterschool programs. Nonetheless, students are welcome to participate in the Summer Camp or the Afterschool Program separately if that better fits their schedules. It is also important to emphasize that students can quit the program at any time for any reason.
The Summer Camp will be a 1 week (5-day) full day program based on the Neuroscience of Drug Use and Addiction. Students will learn about drug use patterns in the U.S., the reasons why people use drugs, changes in the brain that cause addiction, and how addiction is treated. We will use teaching methods that have been shown to increase student academic and problem-solving skills. The Camp will be very interactive, so students will be given the opportunity to work in small groups exploring the topics and seeing how the basic science of drug use and addiction is related to addiction treatments. The Summer Camps will also include a number of interesting activities, such as hearing from health care professionals that treat individuals that are addicted to drugs, and possible field trips to addiction treatment clinics.
The Afterschool program will occur 1-2 h/week throughout the school year, and will include an academic enrichment workshop on the Clarkson University campus once a month. The Afterschool program participants will work in teams to propose a solution to a health-related problem related to drug use and addiction. Ideally, this problem will have come from the information learned during the summer camp, but it does not have to be. The Afterschool program will also include activities aimed at improving student academic and problem-solving abilities, as well as field trips to Clarkson and elsewhere that include academic enrichment workshops and visits to health care facilities so that students can interact with healthcare professionals, such as doctors, nurses, physician assistants, and occupational therapists.
To evaluate the effectiveness of the Summer Camp and Afterschool programs students will fill out surveys related to career interests, how the student solves problems, and how the student feels about science. We will also look at the student’s school records to see if our program impacts academic performance and retention. Students will also be asked to attend a focus group at the end of the program. During the focus group we will meet with a group of students to talk about what they liked about the program, what they didn’t like, and get suggestions for improvement.
Students can sign up for the Summer Camp, the Afterschool program, or both. Participation in the programs is voluntary and the student can quit anytime. Students cannot, however, sign up for the Summer Camp or Afterschool programs if they have participated in the Addiction comparison group.
To qualify for this program, students must have Math and Science Regents test scores > 65%, and attendance and discipline referrals in good standing.
At this point we are recruiting students for the Summer Camp. Recruitment for the After-School program will be later. If you have any questions about the program, please email Bob Dowman at rdowman@clarkson.edu or call (315) 212-9325.
Registration is no longer available because the registration deadline has passed.
