What to Expect
Outstanding Instruction
Active Learning
Helpful Tutoring
Friendships
Parent Involvement
Fun!
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Outstanding Instruction | Active Learning | Helpful Tutoring |
Friendships | Parent Involvement | Fun!
Friendships | Parent Involvement | Fun!
Outstanding Instruction
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Project EXCITE instructors are enthusiastic subject matter experts who have significant experience in teaching and motivating gifted students. Their classrooms tend to be noisy, not due to chatter but to animated discussion of the topic at hand. By recognizing student strengths and encouraging high achievement, Project EXCITE instructors nurture students’ passion for math and science and their love for learning, too. |
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Active Learning
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Rarely, if ever, will you see Project EXCITE instructors lecture. Instead, they are constantly engaging students in course material, challenging them with interactive and thought-provoking projects and surprising them with fun activities that happen to be educational, too. “I want [students] to see that science is exciting, and that earth science today isn't just about guys with hammers crawling around in dirt looking for natural mineral and energy resources,” says Northwestern University professor and Project EXCITE instructor Bradley Sageman. |
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Helpful Tutoring
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An additional benefit of the program is the Project EXCITE study center, established to provide support and assistance to students enrolled in pre-algebra, algebra and geometry. The study center is open to Project EXCITE students every Thursday evening from 5 to 7 p.m., and a cadre of Northwestern University undergraduate student volunteers, along with an Evanston Township High School teacher, help students with homework, projects and test preparation. This is just another of the many ways in which Project EXCITE increases students' competence and confidence in math and science. |
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Friendships
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From day one, Project EXCITE provides a safe haven for bright minority kids. “He always feels like he fits in,” says one parent of her son. “No one is laughing at him; no one is calling him a dork.” And since Project EXCITE students take a variety of courses offered by CTD, they connect not only with each other, but with students from around the world. “Wow. I made a lot of new friends,” says one student. |
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Parent Involvement
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When students enroll in Project EXCITE, parents commit to the program, as well. They are the ones arranging weekend schedules around Saturday classes and planning summer program drop-offs and pick-ups. “She'd tell me, ‘You have to get me there,'" says one parent of her child’s eagerness to attend Project EXCITE classes. They are also the ones meeting with teachers, learning how to advocate for their children’s learning needs and challenging their children to take advantage of Project EXCITE opportunities. Parents do make sacrifices for their children to attend Project EXCITE, and they say the rewards are absolutely worth it. |
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Fun!
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Given the innovative programming and camaraderie among participants, Project EXCITE classes are more than just exceptional learning experiences; they are fun! Whether students are outside building rockets, inside racing to solve a mathematical puzzle or on a field trip to the Museum of Science and Industry, Project EXCITE students are reminded again and again that learning and fun go hand in hand. |
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