UMW’s Summer Enrichment Program Mixes College-Level Learning With Fredericksburg Fun

Fredericksburg Academy sophomore Enoch Huffman partnered up with Towson High School junior Liam Hill to investigate the energy in biopolymers in carbohydrates and proteins by setting food on fire. The session, 'Polymers, Plastics and Me,' was one of several providing hands-on learning opportunities to high-schoolers during UMW's Summer Enrichment Program. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

From mixing paint pigments to mixing music, high school students in UMW's Summer Enrichment Program signed up for a week of college-level learning paired with outdoor activities in the Fredericksburg area. By day three in the week-long program, they had visited Ferry Farm and Kenmore, picked up litter along the Rappahannock River and tied flies for fishing, but it's the in-classroom experience that kept them fired up.

In a chemistry lab, Fredericksburg Academy sophomore Enoch Huffman partnered up with Towson High School junior Liam Hill to investigate the energy in biopolymers in carbohydrates and proteins by setting food on fire. Under the instruction of Associate Professor of Chemistry Leanna Giancarlo, teams of students lit popcorn or cheese puffs on fire to measure the increasing temperature of a container of water positioned carefully above it. The effect was illuminating and an extension of chemistry classes Huffman and Hill experienced in their high schools, but even more hands-on, and it followed lessons on making slime and extracting DNA.

Students in the Science of Paint session gathered in an art studio instead of the lab, but also considered the chemistry of their process, learning how paint is made from a variety of techniques and perspectives. Co-taught by Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Sarah Smith and Assistant Professor of Theatre Bridgette Dennett, the session combined the chemical composition of paint with color theory - providing all the ingredients for a masterpiece.

Back in the Jepson Science Center, students in Distance and Scale in Astronomy focused on the colors of stars, plotting out solar systems on their screens.

"We're taking a leap from our solar system or one star to groupings or thousands of stars … to increase our understanding of how big the universe is," said Professor of Physics Matt Fleenor.

Serenity Kelly, a rising 10th-grader at Westmoreland High School in Montross, shared her enthusiasm for the program: "It's a good opportunity to learn things early and get you ready for college life."

Just over 70 high school students enrolled in the week-long program, which ran July 7-13, 2024. In addition to the educational experience and enrichment activities, they took tours of Fredericksburg and lived on campus in a residence hall for the week.

Though the program is just six days, each day is an opportunity to learn something new, noted Kelly, whose classes included photography and hip-hop, taught by Assistant Professor of Communication and Digital Studies J.D. Swerzenski and Associate Professor of Communication and Digital Studies Adria Goldman, in addition to astronomy. For the photography class, she spent time roaming campus and finding subjects, and then spent the next day back in the studio, testing warm and cool tones in lighting.

Students in the Adventures in Mapping class also spent several days studying the UMW campus. Their assignment was to map the benches, emergency blue lights and signs, and it was led by an incoming student and UMW Noyce Scholar Nolan MacDiarmid. A graduate of Massaponax High School who attended Germanna, MacDiarmid already had an introduction to campus and signed up to work for the program, under the guidance of course instructors Associate Professor of Geography Jackie Gallagher and Professor of Geography Steve Hanna. Students in the course also picked a place to map and took home a framed copy of it.

The memento for Silas Small, a rising 11th-grader at Stafford High School, was auditory, thanks to the Electronic Music Production course with Adjunct Instructor Michael Bratt.

"I joined because I like music, and I wanted to learn how to use more advanced software. It's kind of intimidating," Small said. Yet by Thursday, he was mixing what seemed like 1,001 little things into an electronic composition, which was new for the classical composer.

The Summer Enrichment Program is open to rising 10th- through 12th^-graders. To learn more, visit https://www.umw.edu/summer/sep/.

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