Discovery

2016 Summer Employment Opportunity

Discovery Vision: Provide a quality summer experience for diverse youth to learn on an urban campus,
challenging and supporting them to Dream, Explore and Investigate.
Overview: Discovery provides rising 6th 8th graders an opportunity
to explore future career opportunities in Science, Technology,
Engineering, Arts and Health Sciences through half-day and full-day
week long courses on VCUs college campus. The camp runs for four
weeks (August 1 August 26), and serves youth from diverse socioeconomic and racial backgrounds.

Why should you teach a Discovery class?

Solidify employment during the summer.
Share your passion with young people without the pressures of testing and
regimented curriculum that is necessary during the school year.
Connect youth to real world applications of the skills they are learning throughout the
school year.
Use a hands-on approach to get students excited about learning.

Join the Discovery Family!

For more information:
Visit our website to learn more about Discovery.
Check out the 2015 classes with descriptions.
View our 2015 Facts-at-a-Glance to see highlights from last summer.

Submit a Class Proposal Idea

Visit our online form to submit your class proposal.
Contact Shekinah Mitchell at sdmitchell@vcu.edu or at (804)828-2841.

Looking at a printed version of this flyer? All of the listed links can be found on our
website at mfyc.vcu.edu/summer-programs/discovery/teach-a-class/.

Discovery
Program Overview
Discoverys vision is to provide a quality summer experience for diverse youth to learn
on an urban campus, challenging and supporting them to Dream, Explore and
Investigate.
In 2013, Discovery was re-launched at the Mary and Frances Youth Center (MFYC). The
mission of MFYC is to be a national leader in university-community collaboration for positive
youth development, making Discovery a strong fit. This program provides rising 6th 8th
graders an opportunity to explore future career opportunities in Science, Technology,
Engineering, the Arts, Math and Health Sciences (STEAM-H) through half-day and full-day,
week long courses taught by VCU faculty, students and community members on the college
campus.

Program Model
Youth Across the Richmond
Region

VCU Faculty, Staff,

Alumni and Students

Local teachers and other

community members

Description
# of Weeks
# of Unique Classes
Number of
Students
Gender
2014-2015 Grade
Level
Student Ethnicities

Discovery:
STEAM-H
Career
Exploration

2015
4
24
231 (average of 52 students
per week)
40% Male, 60% Female
34% 6th, 45% 7th, 20% 8th,
1% 9th
African American (49%),
Caucasian (23%),
Other/Unknown (19%),
Asian (5%), Indian (5%)
Returning Students 38
# of Scholarships
44 full

Engaged and
career
conscious
youth
exploring
STEAM-H
careers
through
community
university
partnership.

2014
4
20 (1 repeat)
118 (average of 30 students per
week)
45% Male, 55% Female
44% 6th, 32% 7th, 21% 8th, 3% 9th
African American (45%), Caucasian
(39%), Asian (7%), Other/Mixed
two or more races (7%), Hispanic
(1%), Native American (1%)
39
29 full, 1 partial

Progress and Outcomes

Taken from 2015 Evaluation Report

Reflecting Our Values

Fun: Most students (96.36%) strongly agree or agree that the Discovery Summer
program was a positive experience.

STEAM-H Career exploration: Discovery Students demonstrated knowledge

and interest in STEAM-H coursework after completing the program.

Diversity: Most students in the Discovery Summer program reported having

classes with other children who looked like them, but most strongly agreed or
agreed that they became friends with someone who was different from them.

Impacting Summer Learning Loss

75% of Discovery students agreed to using information gained
during the school year during their time in Discovery.
84% of Discovery students agreed that they would be able to use
ideas from Discovery in the upcoming school year.
92% of students agreed that they were exiting the Discovery
program with an idea of how people use the skills they practiced
in their career.

Fall 2015 Grade Distribution

9th
Graders
1%

6th
Graders
34%

School District Distribution

Home
Hanover
School
5%
3%
Henrico
29%

Chester
3%
Broader
Virginia
5%

8th
Graders
20%

Out of
State
1%

Private
School
13%

Chesterfield
14%

7th
Graders
45%

Richmond
27%

Interested in teaching a one-week class? Do you know of middle school youth who
would benefit from this program? Visit our website at mfyc.vcu.edu, or contact
Shekinah Mitchell at sdmitchell@vcu.edu or (804)828-2841.