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Aspire!      Residential Camps for Grades 10 - 12
Too grown-up for summer camp?  Starting to think about college?

... Aspire! may be for you


Attention Camps on Campus and Aspire!
IMPORTANT NEWS for Registered Participants of Camps on Campus and Aspire!
We are now using email for ALL correspondence about ALL Camps and Aspire! 
For paperwork that is required by our office please visit: http://www.summer.uncc.edu/camps/registeredcampers.php 

NOTICE: The safety and health of our summer campers is our paramount concern and we trust you will assist our efforts.  If you or a family member or other contact has travelled to an area where cases of H1N1 influenza (swine flu)  have been confirmed in humans or animals, please let us know immediately at 704-687-4447 etc. so that we can evaluate any risk and comply with good health practices

The 2009 Aspire! schedule is ready - save the dates!

6/15 - 19  NanoScience
6/22 - 26  Journalism
7/6 - 10  Drama
7/13 - 17

 IT
 7/20 - 24  Health 
7/27 - 31  Engineering & Technology  
8/3 - 7  Health  

Aspire! is a week-long residential program for rising 11th - 12th graders* who want a "sneak preview" of college life.  This year, we have 6 academic strands - Health, Engineering Technology, Drama, Networking, Journalism and NanoScience.  During the day, you work with your own group; evening activities include advice from the Admissions office about your college application; on Wednesday evenings, all Aspire! participants meet with Timeka Ruffin, a representative of the College Foundation of North Carolina, for an informational session covering college applications, career advice, scholarship opportunities, etc.; and meetings with students and faculty from departments of interest to you.  Of course, there's also swimming, Drop Everything and Read, and other recreational activities, and the usual (in)famous Talent Show!

* Engineering & Technology and Health also accept students in rising grade 10.

 
Aspire! program descriptions:

There are 6 Aspire! topics, but some of the spaces are reserved for participants in, for example, the year-round Junior Engineers Technology Society (JETS), or in the Charlotte Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Heroes Program.  Thus, when you register for Aspire! it's a good idea to let us know your second and third choices too.  If there's space available in the program of your choice, of course we'll register you for that one, but we may not be able to do it right away. 
 
 NanoScience   (with Sherine Obare)               June 15 - 19
 
Our very successful NanoScience partnership with UNC Charlotte department of Chemistry continues this year.  At the nanoscale – 1/1000000000th of a meter – the physical, chemical, and biological properties of materials differ in fundamental and exciting ways from the properties of individual atoms and molecules or bulk matter. NanoTechnology research areas range from aerospace to national defense and from environmental improvement to treating disease.

The goal of Aspire! NanoScience is to introduce high school students to the importance of nanoscale materials in Biology.  Students will study protein-carbohydrate interactions; a process that mediates a wide variety of biological processes that occur at cell surfaces, including those associated with disease. The students will begin by fabricating gold nanoparticles and characterizing them by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV-visible absorbance spectroscopy.  Students will then fabricate magnetic nanowires and coat the nanowire surface with carbohydrates. The carbohydrate-coated nanowires will be allowed to bind to the cell via proteins present at the cell surface.  Microscopy (SEM and optical microscopy) will allow students to examine these materials to see the importance of nanoscale materials in biology.

Check out this National Science Website for more information: http://www.nsf.gov/news/overviews/nano/index.jsp;

and here's a link to UNC Charlotte's great NanoScience program: http://www.nanoscalescience.uncc.edu;

and there's a very detailed article about NanoScience and Dr. Sherine Obare in the Fall 2007 UNC Charlotte Alumni magazine (look for the article on pages 10 - 12): http://www.publicrelations.uncc.edu/resources/pdfs/magazine/UNCC%20Alum%20Mag%20Fall%2007.pdf

Cara Glover and Rachel Mobley, two of our 2008 Aspire! Journalism students, interviewed Dr. Sherine Obare from the UNC Charlotte Chemistry department.  Dr. Obare taught the cutting-edge new Aspire! NanoScience program the week of June 16 - 20.  Here's their in-depth conversation.
 
 Journalism   (with Cheryl Spainhour)              June 22 - 26


If you want an inside view of 21st century journalism, then sign up for Aspire! Journalism, where we will explore various news media - from broadcast television and radio news to newspaper and internet reporting.  Students will interview a local celebrity radio personality, write and record podcasts, and publish an e-newsletter.  You will also visit local media sites and meet with college and professional journalists who will share their insight and experiences in the field. Anyone who wants to learn about possible careers in journalism or just gather some practical experience will enjoy this workshop.  Students with an interest in reporting and/or photography are invited to take advantage of this hands-on workshop led by UNC Charlotte journalism professor Cheryl Spainhour.

2008 Aspire! Journalism blog here: http://sites.google.com/site/aspirejournalism08/Home  (This page must be viewed in Firefox.)

Cara Glover and Rachel Mobley, two of our 2008 Aspire! Journalism students, interviewed Dr. Sherine Obare from the UNC Charlotte Chemistry department.  Dr. Obare taught the cutting-edge new Aspire! NanoScience program the week of June 16 - 20.  Here's their in-depth conversation
 
 Drama   (with Jane Godshall)              July 6 - 10


When the temperatures are high – that will be in next July - Aspire! (the drama group) will act from volumes of forgotten lore;

Stay awake – no napping – or you’ll miss out on the clapping
Of the theater fans who show up to the Friday show.
OK – I’ll give up on the bad attempts at poetry – but you should sign up now for the Aspire! version of Edgar Allan Poe’s spooky tales of mystery and imagination.

Check out UNC Charlotte's Department of Dance and Theatre here: http://www.dancetheatre.uncc.edu
 
IT   (with Tiffany Barnes and Bruce Long)              July 13 - 17 

 Is it a battle with evil aliens? Or a quest to solve crime?  In this new, high-tech IT camp in collaboration with Tiffany Barnes from Computer Science and Bruce Long from Software and Information Systems, learn how computing plays a leading role in making games and in predicting and detecting evil-doers in software! Each day you will spend half the day learning to make new games of your own design, and half your day working to solve a virtual "crime" by finding electronic evidence left behind when computers or other digital devices are used.

After this camp, you’ll be able to make your own games to play with your friends, and know how a digital CSI operates!
 
Health   (with Claire Belles)              July 20 - 24   

Healthcare and medicine are two of the hottest career choices today, with over 400 healthcare careers to choose from.  Aspire! Health will give you first hand experience with professionals in the medical field, and put you on the inside track to being a doctor, nurse, athletic trainer, and more.  Students get an in-depth look at health careers, including the skills and knowledge base needed to become a health care professional.  The emphasis is on the important role of science in health-related careers, incorporating exciting demonstrations, medical terminology and health career instruction.  This comprehensive hands-on program offers students the opportunity to learn in a hands-on environment and includes: learning to use a stethoscope to check blood pressure, exploring the UNC Charlotte Schools of Nursing and Health Sciences - and lots more!

Here's a link to the UNC Charlotte Department of Health and Human Services: http://www.health.uncc.edu.
 
There will be a second Aspire! Health program the week of August 3 - 7, with very limited availability.  If you're interested in this, please give us a second Aspire!  preference.

Check out the lead story here about a group of Gear Up NC students who attended Aspire Health 2009.
 
 
Engineering & Technology   (with Steve Kuyath)              July 27 - 31   

This intensive week-long introduction to contemporary engineering technology is part of an ongoing National Science Foundation project through the UNC Charlotte department of Engineering Technology and the NC JETS program.  It will introduce a diverse group of students to exciting applications based on an actual freshman engineering course - civil engineering, computer and electronics engineering, and mechanical engineering - through open-ended team projects. Students will be designing, simulating, assembling and testing electric circuits; using creative and team skills to develop a design to spec from a discovery box and designing, building and testing a basswood beam to load-and-dimensional specifications. The week's final project will be an autonomous robot that participants will be building in the laboratory and will be able to take home! 

Learn about the North Carolina JETS (Junior Engineering Technical Society) clubs at participating state high schools here: http://www.ncjets.uncc.edu.
 
Fees and Registration

  • The deposit is $70.  You may choose to pay just the deposit immediately; your space will be held until 10 days before the start of the program.  The balance of $352 will be due then.  If we don't hear from you then, we will have to fill the space from our (usually very long!) waiting lists. 

  • Full payment is $422.

When programs are full, we can put you on a waiting list.  We occasionally get drops, so sometimes a space opens up in a "full" program; if you need to cancel, please let us know in good time, so we can offer the space to another student.  Please make sure we have up-to-date contact information for you.