‘A great program’
Island high school students have until Nov. 20 to apply for SHAD
Kaaren May knows firsthand the benefits of the youth summer program SHAD.
“It was a great opportunity for me,” said May, who took the program as a teenager and is now the director of industry research at the School of Sustainable Design and Engineering at the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI).
SHAD is an award-winning national enrichment program, which brings top high school students to university campuses across the country to focus on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math).
UPEI is the latest university to join SHAD and is one of 16 university campuses that will host this program in July 2018.
“We pride ourselves on helping students reach their full potential in both the classroom and the community,” said UPEI president Alaa AbdEl-Aziz. “That is why we are so thrilled to join with SHAD and to impact students at a crucial age when they are still in high school.”
The government of P.E.I. is also investing $28,000 to help SHAD become more accessible to Island students so they can become future innovative leaders in Canada.
Island students have until Nov. 20 to apply to the program.
Abby Hackett, a Grade 11 student at Westisle Composite High School, went to SHAD at Carleton University this past summer and said it is a one-ofa-kind program that changed her life in many ways.
“It is great to hear that more students from P.E.I. will now have the chance to go and have an amazing summer of handson learning.”
Madeline Hamill, a Grade 12 student at Kinkora Regional High School, went to SHAD at the University of Waterloo this past summer and says her highlights include an introduction to coding and learning about the human body in an anatomy workshop.
“SHAD helped me realize that if you don’t push yourself to try new things or go outside of your comfort zone then you will miss out on so many opportunities.”
May said her passion for the program is what led her to put her name forward to be the program co-director for SHAD at UPEI.
“I know it’s a great program,” said May. “It seemed to be a really good fit with what we are doing here and an opportunity to bring more visibility to the university.”
The School of Sustainable Design and Engineering will be the central location for SHAD at UPEI, but May said it plans to involve other departments and faculty at the university as well.
Although no official curriculum is drafted yet, May said there will be a mini robotics course as well as a camping trip to Stanhope.
May said the university is
equipped to take 50 students for the month-long summer program and hopes this exposure will lead to students applying to UPEI.
“It’s a great opportunity to promote the university and the province to a group of very bright young minds from across the country.”