Camp focuses on ‘real-world’ skills
Participants can choose from eight academic classes
SAN JOSE — Three longtime friends at Lynbrook High School are leading a summer camp class to teach local middle school students the “real world” skills they say are needed to thrive in high school.
Develop Academy, started last year by seniors Adhiv Dhar, Matthew Sotoudeh and William Shan, is an educational summer camp for middle school students its creators say develops “uniquely relevant real-world skills.” Participants can choose from eight classes including leadership, beginning and advanced computer science, graphic design, writing, public speaking, website development and “high school superstar,” where students learn how to succeed “on both an academic and personal level” in high school.
William, who teaches the “high school superstar” class, said the class helps students prepare for all aspects of high school.
“One of the main goals of this class is to help students discover a higher meaning behind everything they do during high school, whether it be their academics, sports, clubs, or after school commitments,” he said. “Ultimately, without a ’why’ or higher meaning behind each of your commitments, it is all too easy to become jaded and burned out in a fastpaced high school environment like the ones that exist on campuses in our immediate community. Matthew, Adhiv and I have all learned that firsthand.”
Adhiv said Develop Academy aims to give middle school students what he and his friends feel they lacked in middle school.
“When we were in middle school, what we found is that it was very hard to explore different options, find unique ways to learn more unique subjects that aren’t taught in traditional educational settings,” Adhiv said. “We just wanted to give back to the youth around us.”
Matthew, who teaches website development and computer science, said their courses have a lot to offer.
“We definitely felt that we could give these younger people some input that we wish we had had,” he said. “Our overall mission is to teach these students skills they wouldn’t normally (learn) in class that we’ve found very useful over the past four years. Our leadership program, for example, I feel a big focus on that was getting people to step outside of their comfort zone with public speaking and things like that. For me, that was something I never really did in middle school.”
William, who also teaches writing and leadership, said the academy concept “stems from a source of regret.” He said they wished they had been more self-aware, developed better communication and interpersonal skills and the ability to walk away from toxic relationships.
“We realize now that if we can invest in other students early in their lives—while in middle school, in this case— and help them acquire what we believe are skills not directly covered in traditional classrooms while they are at this critical juncture in their lives, their personal growth and learning will snowball, and they will be much better positioned for tremendous personal success later on in life,” he said.
Adhiv said Develop Academy prides itself on offering a well-balanced variety of classes that go beyond science, technology, engineering and mathematics-focused topics.
“A big thing for us is that we didn’t want to just be another STEM camp. We teach website development and computer science, but I think for us, we want to focus on the individual, not necessarily the academic side of everything. I think allowing them to dabble in areas and try things that are new and interesting to them is productive,” he said.
Adhiv thinks having classes led by fellow students can help camp attendees better connect.
“One of the most important parts of the camp is that we’re all high schoolers and we’re able to connect with the students really well; interacting, making them feel comfortable and letting them know that they can ask questions about these things,” he said. “We’re their friends and their mentors, and I think a lot of students really got that connection and they really got more learning out of that. That was definitely something special for us and one of the reasons we’re doing it again this year.”
Adhiv and Matthew have been best friends since second grade and met William in sixth grade. Together, they have developed numerous projects including a program called LHS Campaign which is being licensed by Lynbrook High School to help student government candidates campaign.
The trio is considering taking a year off after high school to expand Develop Academy. Last year’s inaugural session had about 30 participants over the summer.