Summer Students Get a Jump on College

Approximately 25 high school seniors and incoming first-year students from six different states will experience life at Westmont early while earning college credits from June 20 – July 8. In its sixth year, the Westmont Summer Scholars program allows high school seniors and recent high school graduates to take three weeks of intensive classes while living on campus in a residence hall.

The students, from California, Oregon, Texas, New York, Colorado and Hawaii will have the opportunity to take one of two classes, interact on a personal level with their professors, and develop their faith lives. Carmel Saad, assistant professor of psychology will teach General Psychology while Thomas Knecht, associate professor of political science, will teach International Politics. Students will attend chapel twice a week.

“There are other ways to earn college credit in high school, AP classes, or community college classes offered at a student’s high school,” says Chris Hoeckley, director of the Gaede Institute for the Liberal Arts at Westmont, which oversees the program. “But those options don’t offer the full college experience of living with your fellow students and developing close relationships with professors.”

The students will get to partake in a trip to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles and see “Richard III” at Griffith Park, as well as explore their temporary home in Santa Barbara.

Hoeckley says he hopes the program introduces students to an education that integrates their learning with their faith. “The course topics intersect significantly with commitments that grow out of students’ religious faith,” he says. “The program is an opportunity for Westmont to offer its unique, Christian, liberal arts education to those still exploring their college options, while allowing the college to extend its mission to those who might otherwise not benefit from it.”