The university has announced its plan for the inaugural high school study program during the summer of 2010.  

Utilizing the acronym LENS, the program will give students a glimpse into the college experience from a liberal arts perspective. LENS stands for Learn, Experience, Navigate and Solve. 

The purpose is to demonstrate to high school students, rising junior and seniors, that cross-disciplinary study and a balanced multi-disciplinary course load is pertinent in one’s education. And not only for the sole purpose of education is a diverse course load important: it is pivotal in realistic problem solving in our world. 

According to LENS, this multi dimensional perspective is something that is often overlooked in a high school education.

Kline Harrison, associate provost and professor of business, said, “It’s a holistic experience. It’s about learning what it’s like to be a college student while exploring and helping to solve a contemporary problem. The kind of student we are looking for is interested in taking up these challenges.”

In its opening year, the LENS program will examine the challenges of sustainability — specifically in the areas of food and water systems and climate change — from a biological, ecological, political, economical, social and legal perspective. 

Lucas Johnston, a teacher and post-doctoral fellow in religion and environmental studies and co-director of the program, says participants will also use technology to tackle climate change questions. “We’ll use existing climate data to do some computer modeling of future scenarios, and discuss how energy production and consumption may or may not be related to shifts in the earth’s carbon and nitrogen cycles.”

High school students will not only be applying these critical thinking skills inside the classroom. Activities outside of the classroom are included. Students will have the opportunity to visit a farmer’s market to purchase locally grown foods for a group meal, and visit the Yadkin River, Forsyth County’s primary water source, to meet with representatives from the local Riverkeepers chapter. 

Local baseball games, concerts and a campus scavenger hunt will serve as an orientation to the Reynolda Campus.

Co-director and English professor Anne Boyle says LENS will help students learn how to develop and present well-crafted ideas. “Students will begin to see how they can use writing to learn, to test ideas, and then to persuade others of the value and efficacy of their ideas,” Boyle said. 

“What separates Wake Forest’s program,” Johnston said, “from other similar programs is the goal of having students leave with the confidence and the tools to envision and implement their own success stories.” 

“LENS participants will have the opportunity to engage in one-on-one writing tutorials with me and collaborative writing workshops with their peers as they work to understand complex ideas and translate these ideas into proposals for community action.”

The three-week summer program will be limited to 36 participants chosen on a competitive basis. The priority deadline for the program is March 5, but applications will be accepted through May 31. 

The official program dates are July 10 – 31. Students will reside in university housing accompanied by an experienced Resident Advisor staff. No college credit will be awarded to students although access will be gained to a variety of peers and professors, along with incalculable experience in problem solving. 

For more information, visit provost.wfu.edu, and click LENS on the left hand side column.