27 WEBB
todaysummer
Endless Summer… Opportunities Living and Learning Under the California Sun Summer at Webb: you might imagine it as a sleepy time when the dorms are empty, the dining hall is quiet, and the classrooms are dark. But you’d be wrong.
The goal of this exciting venture is to provide an educational summer program that produces innovative leaders, breakthrough thinkers and imaginative problem solvers. And, in turn, to discover the very students who might want to join the Webb family for their high school education. The Junior Scholars—students entering 7th, 8th, and 9th grades—experience the Webb boarding program, engage in active inquiry and learn in powerful new ways. Sally Mingarelli is Webb’s director of experiential learning, and also heads the Junior Scholars Summer Program.
Thanks to Webb’s Junior Scholars Summer Program, the campus is alive with the very unbounded thinking that makes a Webb education so unique, highly sought after, and valuable. This coming summer marks the fifth year of the program, which has grown to include four trackways of study and two sessions (plus a bridge session), with a diverse group of 80 to 90 students each term.
“Part of the reason I head the program is my job title— experiential learning. During the Junior Scholars’ stay, we spend at least two of the 10 days in the field and while the students are here on campus, we’re doing very hands-on activities,” explains Mingarelli. “The reasoning is very much the same as the Webb educational philosophy of Unbounding Thinking,”— that high-level thinking skills are critical for success. Nnenna Ochuru’s interest in the program was piqued by the leadership program and the boarding experience. “I always had the feeling of taking the lead,” explains Ochuru, “but I did not know exactly how, and the program helped me to acquire the skills. The boarding experience