LYNN — Despite the hot and humid weather, students in the city’s middle schools couldn’t have been more excited to walk to Endicott College’s beach.
But they weren’t there just to cool off. They were also there to learn about the biodiversity in the beach’s sand and collect seashells, which they then used to expand their knowledge of marine life.
Lynn’s top middle-school students will explore more of Endicott’s campus in Beverly during classes and extracurricular activities led by the college’s professors for the three-week Learning and Leadership Program.
During the program, 36 students from Marshall, Breed, and Pickering middle schools live in Endicott dorms and take part in abbreviated college classes in the arts and sciences, only going home for weekends.
“The focus of the program is to help students at a younger age start thinking about college and to expose them to college… and to start thinking about potential career paths for their future at a younger age,” Marshall Vice Principal Helena Diamond, who is the director of the program, said.
She added students are connected with two professors per day, so students might be exposed to various lecture styles and classroom cultures, along with different subjects.
Although the program is primarily focused on engaging students in labs, they also have the opportunity to work with performing-arts professors to put on shows, take photography workshops, and learn coding programs, Diamond said.
“So a lot of that is getting students at this age out of their comfort zone, or getting them to do things on stage where they would have never performed before in the middle-school setting,” she said.
Diamond added that during the other component of the program, students learn to become independent and develop leadership skills. With free time from 7 p.m. until lights out at 10 p.m. students learn time management.
Students must do their own laundry, maintain their own dorm rooms, and complete any homework that was not finished during the day, she said.
This Friday, they will also head to Project Adventure in Beverly to participate in a leadership workshop.
The LLP is now in its 15th year. At the end of the program, one student will be awarded a full four-year tuition scholarship to attend Endicott College upon completion of high school.
Diamond said one of the interns who is working with the program this summer is an Endicott sophomore who received the scholarship after attending the program.
She said having the interns there is an interesting experience that brings the program full-circle because the younger students are able to ask the interns how they picked their majors and what their majors entail.
Diamond, who has been with the program for more than 10 years, said she is constantly delighted watching the students take on new experiences and even be surprised by what they learn at the college.
For example, she said one of the students found a clam while digging for seashells on the beach and the student, who had never seen a full clam before, exclaimed with excitement.
“Seeing their eyes light up, with things that they could do on their own at the beach, that they could then transfer that to Lynn Beach next week,” she said. “Something so simple.”
Solita Hok, a rising eighth-grader at Pickering, said that so far, her favorite part has been all of the science classes she has taken.
She added they learned a lot about flying squirrels, DNA, and the digestive system.
Hok said they would go down to the beach to take a further look at fish bacteria that day.
“It’s a really good opportunity for us. I’ve never done anything like it. It’s really different and fun,” she said.
Hok added that although she wasn’t sure what she wants to do when she graduates high school, she was beginning to think about writing books or working with animals.
Irina Hidalgo, a rising eighth-grader at Marshall, said she was excited to be at the college engaging with students from other middle schools and challenging herself in STEM.
She said her favorite part was working in the labs.
“I’ve never thought about DNA and stuff. We’re able to learn about biotechnology and the use of the echo system and how it’s all kind of connected as one and how our experiences and our doings affect the earth and ourselves,” Hidalgo said.
Hidalgo, who said she might want to be an architect or engineer after graduating high school, said the program was an “overall very nice program for a great learning and leadership experience.”
Alejandro Godoy, a rising eighth-grader at Marshall, said he was stoked to learn he was invited to apply to the program.
He said the idea of living in a college dorm for a few weeks while taking college classes really encouraged him to “step it up and challenge” himself.
Godoy said he wants to do biology or engineering after high school. He added that his favorite part of the LLP has been learning about biodiversity and DNA swabbing.
“That’s something that really interests me. It’s not something that we’re experienced in, but since we started it, I’m really enjoying it,” he said.
Diamond said the students in the program work incredibly hard.
“It’s incredible to see,” she said. “It’s really neat just to have a focus on something to work toward at such a young age. I don’t know if I was ever thinking about college in seventh or eighth grade.”
