UVA|Northern Virginia Inspires High Schoolers with Summer Programming
As the University of Virginia expands in Northern Virginia, so has access to its programs. Inspire, one of UVA Northern Virginia’s offerings, is a summer program for rising 10th-12th graders to explore new interests and skills.
These one- to two-week courses, offered in-person and online, provide participants the opportunity to engage in courses that may not be offered at their respective high schools. UVA|Northern Virginia goes beyond the traditional high school curriculum, offering classes in coding, college essay writing, forensic science, and more!
Based in Fairfax, Virginia, Inspire allows students to explore their interests without leaving home. If you are not local to the DMV area, Inspire offers online courses open to any 10th-12th grader across the country with access to the internet. Whether online or in-person, the small class sizes promote strong peer and one-on-one instructor interactions for all students.
One of the best features of in-person courses are the Friday Field Trips. Each Friday, students go beyond the classroom, visiting local firms and organizations specializing in their course topic. In the inaugural year, Inspire Summer 2023 students visited a local defense contractor, marketing agency, and explored ARTECHOUSE and the interactive Spy Museum.
UVA|Northern Virginia Inspire students from the inaugural summer shared how much they’ve grown through the experience. Ashlynn, a virtual writing course student, explained how the program expanded her knowledge and skills in writing. She shared, “I explored my personal strengths and weaknesses. I adapted and overall became a better writer, better preparing myself for the rest of my high school and college education.”
I adapted and overall became a better writer, better preparing myself for the rest of my high school and college education.— Ashlynn, Inspire 2023 Student
“My experience at the program was very good. I really liked how it was formatted and especially liked how the one-on-ones were done. [The program] really developed my essay writing skills, while also giving us a helpful way to narrow down what we wanted to write about,” said another writing student.
An Introduction to Programming student, Annabelle, tells us about her experience in her course. She shared, “I really liked the Introduction to Programming class, because I got to learn not only a useful life skill, but also something that interests me. This class was really fun and well-structured, so that I could absorb all the new information that we were taught.”
Looking back on the inaugural year, the UVA|Northern Virginia team is full of reverence for this first group of students and the bright ideas they brought to the program. We are eager to welcome Summer 2024 students in just a few short months!