GREENEVILLE – High school students concluding the on-campus component of the Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math and Science Summer Academy at Tusculum University showcased their knowledge and new skills during special events that highlighted the active and experiential learning they have experienced.
Shawny Humphreys, right, discusses her research project on ChatGPT with Dr. David Smith.
Conor Fitzgerald, left, discusses his research project on paper airplanes with Raigun Duncan.
These students made poster presentations, showed artwork, performed improvisational comedy and danced Wednesday, June 26. The talent they demonstrated was honed in special classes held in the afternoon throughout their time at Tusculum.
“The presentations illuminated another dimension to the breadth and depth of learning our students accumulate at our Summer Academy,” said Dr. David Smith, director of TRIO programs at Tusculum. “They also reflect the broad range of academic and extracurricular activities that will be available to these students when they go to college. These students have absorbed this experience and made the most of this opportunity, which will benefit them as they progress in life.”
The poster presentations are developed based on research conducted by students in Upward Bound Math and Science. Aaron Barnett, an advisor in that program, said the purpose is to build research abilities for these high school students so they will be prepared for college.
“They are expected to know how to conduct research very soon after they arrive in college,” he said. “We want our students to become familiar with the process of research. We’re not trying to discover new planets or cure heart disease in our projects but instead are focused primarily on ensuring they understand what research entails.”
Upward Bound Math and Science staff members give students a list of potential subject areas they can research, but students can suggest other potential ones. Some of the topics the students explored this year were paper airplanes, stress, ChatGPT, artificial intelligence, solubility of drugs, medicine and impact craters.
Teaching the research class was Dr. Danielle Shackelford. She leads the students through the process of writing a research paper, including gathering and recording data and formatting the final product. Graphics and information from that paper are placed on the posters and displayed in the Brotherton Boardroom of the Meen Center on presentation night. Barnett said the students appreciate developing this skill and enjoy explaining their poster and research subject with students who are not in this class.
Judges from outside the Upward Bound Math and Science program evaluate the presentations.
Katelyn Begines, right, discusses her research on stress with a fellow student.
Students who participated in the creation of “The Last Judgment” stand by their work.
For the art project this year, teacher Bill Bledsoe had his Upward Bound students complete a blind contour, followed by the painting on canvas, of Michelangelo’s “The Last Judgment.” Each student was responsible for two panels, and all of them were pieced together for the final product. A blind contour involves viewing an item and drawing it without looking at the piece of paper.
“The reason why I have students do that is because none of them has completed a blind contour before, and that is my standard,” said Bledsoe, assistant professor of art and design at Tusculum. “To drive home why they are doing that, I told them that this is what Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci did. That’s why they were so distinctive from everybody who preceded them.”
Bledsoe said skills students acquire are total value, rhythm and the ability to take a complicated composition and break it down to its simplest components while still having it render. They also learn how to paint.
In addition to participating as a team on “The Last Judgment,” students created other individual paintings. Those are watercolor master variations from the Renaissance to Impressionism periods. All of the paintings were shown in the Clem Allison Art Gallery in Annie Hogan Byrd Fine Arts Center.
Just a few feet away in the Marilyn duBrisk Theatre, students showed their comedic and dancing talent. Erin Hensley Schultz, who taught the theater class and is Tusculum’s costume director, said her Upward Bound students saw a performance by Blue Plate Special, a local improv group, at the beginning of the Summer Academy. They continued to work on improv during their time at the academy and put on their own show with a couple of Blue Plate Special members on June 26.
“Improv is all about working together to tell a story, create a world and create a scene,” Schultz said. “It is about accepting given circumstances and dealing with the circumstances you’ve been handed in that scene. It is about creativity and problem-solving, and along with that, I’m able to teach basic acting lessons, such as projection, breathing, characterization and physicality.”
Students complete one of their dances.
Students and Blue Plate Special members perform an improv skit.
During their academy stay, the students in the theater class spent days learning about stage makeup and wigs. Guest speakers also came and explained the theater jobs they hold, such as a stage manager and a director. Those individuals were involved in more than improv. A few actors also discussed the way they approach a show or role. In addition, students watched a couple of films of stage productions.
“Participating in theater teaches a lot of different life skills even if you don’t want to pursue a career in the stage professionally,” Schultz said. “Acting and theater teach empathy and communication and interview skills.”
Before the students performed improv, another group of Upward Bound students danced. They were taught by Lesa Fox of Lesa’s School of Dance and Amelia Mullins, one of Fox’s students. One dance was a jazz number they started studying at the academy’s onset, and the second was a hip-hop dance.
As part of the preparation, the students would stretch about 30-45 minutes a day to increase their flexibility before working on technique. They had to learn about 15 ballet turns and then take a skills test.
“They’ve been a great group,” Fox said. “I’ve enjoyed them so much. I just wanted them to learn the basic dance steps, and then if they ever go to a Broadway play or anything musical and the event includes dancing, they can appreciate the steps and how people perform because that’s what they did tonight.”
The on-campus portion of the academy ended Thursday, June 27. Interested students are able to follow up by joining Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math and Science staff on a cultural trip to Cincinnati the following week.
To learn more about Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math and Science, please visit https://site.tusculum.edu/student-success/academic-affairs/first-gen/ub/ and https://site.tusculum.edu/student-success/academic-affairs/first-gen/ubms/, respectively. More information about the university is available at www.tusculum.edu.