Project EXCITE FAQ

What is Project EXCITE?
Go to Program Description.

Why should my student participate in Project EXCITE?
Go to Benefits.

What are the admission criteria?
Go to Eligibility.

Who teaches the classes for Project EXCITE?
Veteran Evanston Township High School teachers from the Mathematics and Science Departments teach the Tuesday after-school mathematics and science classes for third graders. They are the same teachers who normally teach honors and advanced placement mathematics and science courses at the high school. Third-grade teachers from Lincolnwood and Timber Ridge Magnet Schools assist them.

The Saturday Enrichment Program Mathematics and Science class for fourth graders is taught by a seventh grade teacher with a strong academic background in gifted education.

Fifth grade Project EXCITE students take the Saturday Enrichment Program classes taught by the teachers hired by the Center for Talent Development at Northwestern University.

When do sessions/workshops occur?
Ten after-school classes are held at Evanston Township High School and Northwestern University per academic year for Project EXCITE third graders. The sessions are held on Tuesdays, from 4:00 to 5:15 PM, beginning in November and ending in May of each year. The rest of Project EXCITE students participate in the fall and winter sessions of the Saturday Enrichment Program.

How much does it cost to participate in Project EXCITE?
Participation in Project EXCITE Program is free to all qualifying students in District 65.

What kinds of activities do the students do?
At Evanston Township High School, third graders are involved in hands-on activities involving biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics. For example, students have used microscopes to observe the activities of a slime mold in a biology lesson. In chemistry, third graders have used red cabbage juice to measure the pH of various substances.

The Mathematics and Science Project EXCITE class offered to fourth graders in the Saturday Enrichment Program also emphasizes the use of hand-on activities to teach mathematics and science. During the fall sessions, fourth graders spent most of their time learning mathematics: multiplication, long division, and the introduction to the use of exponents and variables. During the winter sessions, emphasis is on physical science. Fourth graders are currently engaged in hands-on activities involving magnets and electrical circuits.