LRSM Serves Philadelphia Area High School Students in Penn No-cost Virtual Summer Program

In July 2020, the LRSM contributed to the inaugural University of Pennsylvania Rising Scholar Success Academy (PennRSSA), a free-of-cost four-week summer program for rising seniors in the Philadelphia area. The entirely virtual program was a collaborative effort between the Provost’s Division of Student Engagement and 8 Schools of the university. The program consisted of both live and asynchronous learning with the purpose of immersing “… rising seniors in an academic, career, and post-secondary preparatory experience.” The LRSM provided content to 807 rising seniors (57.89% women, 41% underrepresented minority) from 82 different high schools in the area as part of the PennRSSA “Academy” portion of the program. Various materials science concepts were covered in the form of pre-recorded videos by Schuyler Patton, a local high school teacher, as well as supplemental readings, learning checks, and unit tests. The schedule also included two days of live engagement with the students, where Dr. Wallace facilitated an icebreaker and Q&A segment while Schuyler led the live demonstrations (i.e. Introduction to Materials & Cooking with Materials). Learn more about RSSA here.