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Celebrating Summer 2022

40 Years of CTD, the Return of Residential Programs, and Summer Leadership

By Mark Rentfro

This summer, we have a lot to celebrate. It is Center for Talent Development’s (CTD) 40th anniversary. In the first years of CTD, planning for summer--which consisted of 8 courses and 200 students--was new and exciting, but it was also full of decision points and creative problem solving by a hard-working, skilled program team. In that regard, not much has changed! This year, we’re also celebrating the return of CTD’s residential summer programs to Northwestern’s Evanston campus.

For the first time in three years, we are preparing for exciting on campus experiences, while keeping health and safety in the forefront, specifically making plans to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 to our students and staff. And we’ve got a dedicated, veteran CTD summer program member at the helm. As she steps into the role of Coordinator of Academic Summer Programs after running the high school program for many years, Ruth Doan is grateful to Northwestern University for the support they’ve provided in the planning process. She is amazed at the courage, adaptability, and understanding of the program staff. Foremost, she’s excited to work with students and their families to create an environment that nurtures growth and embraces challenge, which is the heart of the talent development model.

Our students and staff did a great job of creating vibrant learning communities online and will continue to do so. Reminiscing about the virtual summer programs of 2020 and 2021, Ruth recalls an open classroom event at the end of a Creative Writing Master Class session. Parents were invited to join the class for a match game. Students were read passages from their peers’ work and asked to guess who had written them. “That’s iconic Isabella,” Ruth remembers one student correctly and emphatically identifying a passage’s author. At the same time, Ruth is glad to have the opportunity to offer on campus programs again, providing a glimpse of college life and the power of a living and learning community.

As applications are accepted and class rosters begin to take shape, Ruth is excited about the new and growing partnerships CTD has made both with Northwestern and external organizations. For the first time in many years, we’ll be offering Biology courses with access to Northwestern University lab space. We’ve also expanded our enrichment offerings to middle and high school students. Courses like AI and the Ethics of Machines and Future Cities are opportunities for students to prepare for the advanced level of reading and discourse they can expect to encounter at the next stage of their academic journey.

“The magic of CTD,” says Ruth, “lies in the conversation between rigorous academics and the social context, the in-person and residential experience.” She remembers sitting in the courtyard outside the residence halls, watching older students go out to explore Evanston together. They might return with bags from CVS and Target, or custard from the late lamented campus haunt Andy’s Frozen Custard. Along with the academic experience, students are “just figuring out what their routines are. They’re easing into their home away from home,” says Ruth.

This summer, there will be fewer indoor activities and more outdoor experiences. Think more baseball games and fewer dance parties. If you’re inclined to despair, remember this is Summer in Chicago. For every movie theater and bowling alley, there is a park or neighborhood with endless opportunities for cultural enrichment.

Finally, Ruth is excited to renew the relationship between students and their Resident Advisors and Resident Teaching Assistants. She points out that the job descriptions posted for candidates to these jobs describe an opportunity to make a “life-changing impact.” RA and RTA staff facilitate the conversation Ruth so values between rigorous academics and the challenge to grow socially and emotionally that is unique to the CTD Summer Program.

“If there is anything this community is capable of,” says Ruth, “it’s creative and collaborative problem solving.” As a return to a full in-person and residential summer program becomes more of a reality every day, we are all looking forward to what Ruth describes as the opportunity to “recognize the spaces and places where our needs are different” while still creating space to meet those needs.

We look forward to creating and sharing new summer program memories. If your family isn’t signed up yet, we invite you to do so!

Please note that to attend residential programs in 2022, students must be 12 years old by the start of the summer program session they plan to attend.

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