PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Scholars Advantage program is back for its third year.
"I am the first black woman to retire from the union and the first black woman that was in the union. I went to a four-year apprenticeship school. It was real rough back then in the 80s, but it has gotten a lot better – a lot, lot more women are getting in and interested, just like this," said Pauletta Brown, who teaches carpentry skills at Scholars Advantage.
The program, run by the Philadelphia Education Fund and supported by a grant from the William Penn Foundation, is an attempt to tackle the potential learning loss of Philadelphia high school students.
The fund also creates equitable access to opportunities for students by providing resources and expertise for college and career success.
And if enriching your mind isn’t tempting enough, those who attend get paid.
"Students get up to $500 stipends so they can focus on the experience instead of getting a summer job,” said Madeline Birkner, senior manager of Persistence and College Partnerships for Philadelphia Education Fund.
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About 100 students from schools around the city are in the program. They have the opportunity to take four different classes: Computer Science, Human Anatomy, the Trades Exploratory Course, and English Composition.
“And then we offer four weeks of in-person classes with qualified instructors and then we also have a full college and career exposure curriculum that is embedded into the model as well," Birkner said.
The four-week courses take place at Temple University’s Center City campus. Students can also attend field trips that support classroom instruction.
Leilany Reynoso, 16, from the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts, explored real human organs on one Anatomy class outing.
"I honestly, at first, felt a little nauseous,” she recalled. “I thought I wasn't going to be able to touch anything, but I got really comfortable really quick because they encourage us not to be scared and this is basically what people see 24/7, basically."
"And it was really fun and we learned the actual sizes, like, we got to see it right in our lands … like the human heart and lungs. We basically got to see and hold everything.”
For more information on the program, check out this site.