The Windham and New London ConnCAP Programs
Eastern Connecticut State University

How do you prepare teenagers from low-performing schools to make the transition from high school to college? How do you motivate them to learn and teach them the essential critical thinking skills they will need for an academic career? In response to these questions and based on the belief that a college education is possible if intervention occurs early in a student's life, the Eastern Connecticut State University's ConnCAP programs provide youth from low-income backgrounds with a summer residential and academic enrichment program that increases their chances of attending college. The program, designed for young people in grades 7-12, immerses students in intensive summer courses and year-round after-school tutoring. Drawing from two of Connecticut's most ethnically diverse communities, ConnCAP collaborates with the Windham and New London school districts to provide the means for students to master the academic and social skills necessary for a college career.

For six weeks every summer, 100 students embark on a rigorous schedule of instruction, completing three of the six weeks in-residence on the Eastern campus. They take courses ranging from the arts and humanities to math, science, and physical education, as part of a unique curriculum built around a contemporary theme. A field trip related to the theme is also incorporated into the instruction. For example, in 2001 when the theme was "Synergy," the students studied Tocqueville's Democracy in America in class; worked in groups to form their own government; and took a culminating summer trip to Washington, DC, where they expanded their understanding of democracy, the Founding Fathers, and American history.

ConnCAP further magnifies the effect of reading, which forms the core of its program, through drawing, writing, and photography projects. It offers a range of electives in visual arts and drama, and the students explore the interrelationship between art and math. Additional cultural exposure includes trips to university-sponsored art, lecture, and music programs. ConnCAP sustains the impact of the summer program through small group or individual tutoring and mentoring in a range of academic subjects throughout the school year. As a whole, ConnCAP's program, with a rigorous academic feast at its core, provides its participants with broadened horizons and a sense of possibility-giving them the tools and opportunity to change their lives.