Cerritos College Hosts Middle School Academy

For 48 students, their first week of summer vacation was spent in a Cerritos College classroom, taking more classes.

These students weren’t in trouble; in fact, they were there out of their own desire. These kids are middle school students who are part of the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District’s GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) program, a program that challenges high-achieving students by offering them programs that are appropriate to their academic level and talents.

This week, these GATE students will participate in the third annual Summer Math and Science Academy, which is organized and funded by California State University, Long Beach, the Cerritos College Teacher TRAC Program, the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District and the Cerritos College Pathways Programs Department.

Program Focus

Through this collaboration, the summer academy affords students the opportunity to learn math and science from both college professors and teachers in their district; the program also allows college students studying to be teachers to work as “assistant professors” in the academy, giving them important career development skills, said Sue Parsons, director of the Teacher TRAC program.

The program -- which is free for students --focuses on math and science, organizers said, because of the critical need for persons educated in mathematics and science. This effort follows a national effort to educate students and train more teachers in math and science by giving them the tools needed to succeed in an increasingly competitive world.

According to Robin Ridgeway, a teacher from Benton Middle School and member of the GATE advisory committee, one of the challenges of middle school GATE students is keeping them motivated. The academy is one of the few programs catered for these grade levels.

“At this age, students can start to turn off from school because it’s not challenging anymore,” Ridgeway said. “They become bored and are forced to do work that’s easy for them; it’s critical to offer challenging and stimulating programs for them.”

What’s also important to the academy, organizers said, is the college setting that the students get to learn in, which they hope further inspires them to pursue higher education.

“Having the academy at Cerritos College promotes college readiness and builds ambition,” said Ridgeway.

The college setting also complements the academy’s curriculum because it exposes students to a higher level of math and science than what they’re normally exposed to, Ridgeway added.

Program Format

The 4-day program runs from 12:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. and in each classroom there are two professors and two assistant professors for each class of 24 students. The students chosen for the academy were recommended by GATE coordinators. For Ridgeway, it was important that female students in particular be chosen because of the low numbers of female students in math and science, she said.

“We want to encourage females to participate in the academy to show that their world is not narrow and to broaden their career opportunities,” she said.

Impact on Students

For many of these kids, this week will be the first time they are taking classes on a college campus -- a novelty they said they are enjoying.

“These classrooms are nothing like the ones we have, the desks are big and the chairs swivel,” said Pamela Romero, 11. “There’s something fun about them.”

Romero said that in addition to the new classrooms, she enjoys what she’s learning, and will eagerly explain what she learned about physics in the academy. Even though this is the first time she’s been exposed to physics, she said she is not intimidated by it, because the instructors teach through activities and experimentation. On Monday, she said, they learned how a baby mobile works and built one themselves.

“This is nothing like what we learn in class,” Romero said. “The teacher has us do workshops and experiments which help us learn and keeps our attention; it’s fun.”