Juntos Summer Academy 2018

Author:  John Bennett

Juntos, an organization dedicated to 4-H Latinx students’ achievement both in high school and in higher education, hosted its ninth annual Summer Academy this year from June 18-22. Summer Academy is an integral part of the Juntos experience, allowing students to experience living on a university campus for a week and to imagine themselves living somewhere similar by attending college. Summer Academy is one of four components of the Juntos program, the other three being after school 4-H clubs, family engagement, and one-on-one success coaching.

This year’s welcoming speaker was Dr. Mike Yoder, the Associate Director and State Leader of North Carolina State Cooperative Extension as well as the coordinator of the state’s emergency programs. Vice Chancellor and Dean for the Division of Academic and Student Affairs, Dr. Mike Mullen, gave the closing remarks to the students, Team Captains, Juntos leadership team, and Goodnight scholars in attendance. The keynote speakers Lucero Galvan and Ricky Aldape, both NCSU Alumni and first generation college students, represented Latinx excellence and spoke stirringly about the trials and obstacles they had to overcome to succeed.

This year’s Summer Academy saw 55 Juntos 4-H-ers from Yadkin, Wayne, Wake, Sampson, Catawba, and Pender counties take part. The students attended nine classes from Tuesday through Thursday on topics as diverse as entomology and saving and applying for college. This year was the first year that Juntos partnered with the Future Ingenieros Program, a program designed to give a select group of students exposure to engineering careers as well as the opportunity to be mentored by NC State engineering professors. In total, eight students were selected for Future Ingenieros to attend separate classes on topics ranging from particle pollution to worm reproduction and to work in three teams on engineering projects that they presented at the closing ceremony.

This year Juntos also partnered with the Goodnight Scholars to develop the STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) project: Little Free Libraries. Each county designed and built their own LFL that they will place somewhere in their county. Beatriz Gurgel, a graduate of the Goodnight Scholars program, oversaw the entire project with the support of four Goodnight Scholars.

Beyond these activities, Students enjoyed rock climbing, swimming, playing soccer, dancing, visiting Talley Student Union, visiting a college fair with representatives from more than a seventeen colleges in attendance, touring the College of Veterinary Medicine and the School of Textile Management on Centennial Campus, attending and performing in a talent show, experiencing college life at NC State University (eating at cafeterias/sleeping in dorms), and participating in devotionals every night. Juntos Summer Academy is an extraordinary opportunity for Latinx students to discover all that the college life has to offer.