A Public Health Summer Experience for High School Students

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, many high school students were unaware of careers in public health—that there are many options available for those interested in improving health and preventing disease beyond being a doctor or a nurse. The Rutgers School of Public Health (R-SPH) developed PHocus (Public Health: Outbreaks, Communities, and Urban Studies) to introduce high school students to the interdisciplinary field of public health as well as to promote population and individual health. The PHocus Summer Experience was designed for high school students to explore population health and learn about the fundamentals of epidemiology, the breadth of topics addressed by public health, and public health careers. R-SPH hosted PHocus as 1-week sessions in Summer 2018 and 2019, available at both the School’s Piscataway, New Jersey, and Newark, New Jersey, locations. The Newark sessions targeted recruitment from high schools with underserved, minority, and/or economically disadvantaged students, and tuition for these students was supported through external funding. Across 2018 and 2019 PHocus Summer Experiences, 130 students participated, representing 63 high schools, in four 1-week sessions. The experience was rated very highly by participants; on a 4-point scale (1 = strongly disagree to 4 = strongly agree), the median score for the program being a worthwhile experience was 4.0. R-SPH faculty, staff, and students, as well as external stakeholders, eagerly volunteered to be part of the program, suggesting that this educational program can be reproduced at other schools and programs of public health.

Effect of Water Regimes on the Growth of and Yield of Rabi / Summer Groundnut Genotypes in Northern Transition Zone of Karnataka

Background: Groundnut crop grown during Rabi / summer experiences moisture stress, thus irrigation is must. However, water for irrigation gets scarce during summer month hence it becomes important to choose stress tolerant varieties and optimize irrigation schedule without compromising the yield.Methods: A field experiment with four rabi / summer groundnut genotypes (G1: Dh-86, G2: Dh-101, G3: K-9 and G4: G2-52) exposed to four irrigation regimes (I1: 7 irrigations at 15 days interval from sowing to 105 DAS as control, I2: withdrawal of one irrigation between 45 - 60 DAS i.e., pegging stage, I3: withdrawal of two irrigations between 45-75 DAS i.e., at pegging and pod filling stage, I4: withdrawal of four irrigations from 45-105 DAS i.e., at pegging, pod filling and kernel development stage) was carried out from December to April of 2016-17 on black cotton soils at AICRP on Groundnut UAS, Dharwad.Result: Among the genotypes tested, Dh-86 recorded significantly higher pod yield (2,376 kg ha-1) followed by Dh-101 (2,215 kg ha-1) and K-9 (2,048 kg ha-1), whereas G2-52 gave the lowest yield (1,880kg ha-1) and all of them performed well at I1 and I2 irrigation regimes. Among different water regimes, I1 (i.e., control) recorded significantly taller plants, higher LAI, more branches and higher dry matter at harvest as compared to other irrigation regimes, hence it also recorded significantly higher pod yield and haulm yield (2,870 and 4,691 kg ha-1, respectively), but was found at par with I2, i.e., crop stressed only at pegging stage (2,858 and 4,648 kg ha-1, respectively). This suggests that, at the most, one irrigation can be skipped at pegging stage without compromising on yield.

Can Summer Philosophy Programs Help Close the Achievement Gap?

While summer break presents educational and recreational opportunities for some students, students from depressed socioeconomic groups may face significant obstacles in the summer, including learning loss. In general, these students also lack access to a wide range of intrinsic and instrumental benefits attached to the study of philosophy. While there are currently existing philosophy programs, this contribution highlights the connections between summer experiences and the overall achievement gap, while identifying specific practices shown to yield successful summer programs. Philosophy provides an impressive set of benefits, including academic skills and opportunities for personal growth and development. Incorporating best practices while focusing on the methods and content of philosophy should, therefore, yield particularly rewarding programs. Due to these benefits, summer philosophy programs should be researched, developed, and expanded.

The case for summer: Conceptualizing the Summer Divide in higher education

Students’ summer experiences during college potentially influence their postsecondary outcomes and job placement. Little is known, however, about how college students spend their summers. Drawing from prior research, current strands of literature, and Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of societal reproduction, the author suggests that scholars explore the possibility of a Summer Divide. The author’s argument is twofold: (1) focusing on the summer might provide further insight to students’ postsecondary outcomes and (2) class hierarchies might be further reified during the summer.

Perspectives of Adolescents With Disabilities on Summer Employment and Community Experiences

Although summer represents an opportune time for adolescents to garner employment and community experiences that may further long-term transition goals, little is known about the expectations and needs of adolescents with disabilities during this break in the academic school year. In this article, the authors explore adolescents’ perceptions about summer employment and community involvement, adult guidance, and factors that facilitate or hinder access to these experiences. They conducted focus group interviews of 16 adolescents with cognitive, emotional/behavioral, and learning disabilities from two distinct communities. Although participants held high expectations for maintaining summer jobs, they pursued work and community experiences independently and with varied success. Despite articulating low expectations for adult guidance, participants expressed a desire and/or need for mentorship or other more indirect support. By drawing on the perspectives of the adolescents themselves, the authors address (a) the value of summer as a vehicle for transition education and (b) the implications for helping teenagers secure fulfilling summer experiences.

The Benefits of Summer Programming for Gifted Adolescents

For several years, Talent Search programs at five American universities have offered intensive summer experiences for a select group of highly gifted young adolescents in core academic areas. It has been the position of directors of these projects that the experience of attending such a summer program has a profound effect on an adolescent's life. In an effort to examine the overall effects and benefits of this type of programming, the Midwest Talent Search Project at Northwestern University conducted a follow-up study of one hundred of its summer participants. This article describes the procedures used, reports the data collected, and suggests a “benefits model” for further testing among this population of gifted adolescents.