OJR student attends Governor’s School
For five weeks, a Chester Springs local will be attending the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University, where he will go to lectures and conduct a research project.
“I thought it was a good time for me to explore a lot of interests I have in school,” said Ahmed Alveed, who is a rising senior from Owen J. Roberts High School. “I am excited to be able to spend a month at Carnegie Mellon and get a taste of college life.”
The Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Sciences , which will run from July 1 to August 4, was created to “provide a summer enrichment experience in the sciences and mathematics for talented Pennsylvania high school students and to encourage them to pursue careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics,” according to their website.
Students take part in lecture courses on biology, which is about the pathology of HIV; chemistry; computer science; mathematics, which is about proof-based problems in discrete math; and physics, which is about special relativity, according to Alveed. They also must participate in a lab of their choice with a team of other students.
While no grades are given, Alveedsaid he still expects classes to be demanding.
Classes are “designed to be challenging to even the most talented students in the state. Even those who have exhausted accelerated options at their high school and/or local universities will be exposed to new topics here, which were selected with highperforming students in mind,” the website states.
Alveed has completed all the computer science courses offered at OJR. He is also in OJR’s coding crew, which he said is a “huge part” of his high school career.
“I think one of the biggest reasons I even decided to this program is because they are renowned for its computer science,” Alveed said.
Alveed plans to take a computer science lab while at the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Sciences. He said he and a group of other students will have to “string together a computer program” that would be able to learn the science fiction video game Starcraft and continue to improve while at it.
“I’ve always had a little keen interest (in computer science),” said Alveed, who added that the lab’s task is “pretty difficult” and that because the students are working together they’ll have a better chance accomplishing it.
The Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Sciences is only opened to rising seniors. They received over 300 applications this year, but Alveed is among the only 56 that were accepted into the program. Students live on campus in Carnegie Mellon dormitory.
“Students accepted into the Governor’s School for the Sciences are among the top achievers at their schools,” the press release states.
Tuition, room and board, materials, and program costs are provided through the program. It is covered by contract from the PGSS Campaign Inc.