Programs at Quinnipiac Draw High School Students This Week

More than 750 high school students from across Connecticut will travel to Quinnipiac University Dec. 16-18 to attend programs on movie making, app design, entrepreneurship and science technology, engineering and mathematics. 

On Dec. 16, students from Crosby, Danbury, East Haven, Engineering and Science University Magnet School, James Hillhouse, Metropolitan Business Academy, New Britain, Newington, Newtown, Pathways to Technology, Simsbury, Terryville and Thomaston high schools will travel to the Mount Carmel Campus to attend Digital Media and Movie Making (DM3) and Research, Design, and Development (RD2) programs.   

Quinnipiac faculty and staff from the Center for 21st Century Skills at Education Connection will host workshops on team building, producing, interviewing, directing, multimedia and web design, journalism, video editing, mobile app design and theory, and audio acquisition.  

Rebecca Abbott and Liam O’Brien, professors in the School of Communications at Quinnipiac, also will discuss their most recent documentary, “Ireland’s Great Hunger.” 

"This program is unique nationally for its cutting-edge involvement in digital media arts technology for high school students, in their preparation for higher education work in film, video and interactive digital media production and design and for their future careers in the entertainment and information industries,” O’Brien said.

The Digital Media and Moving Making Program, currently in 12 Connecticut high schools, is one of two 10th grade technology courses in the Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences sequence. The other is the Research, Design, and Development Mobile App Design course, which runs in 14 schools.

Quinnipiac has been involved with the Connecticut Career Choices’ Digital Media and Movie Making program since its inception and is now a partner of the Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.

On Tuesday, high school juniors who are in the E-Commerce Entrepreneurship course, which includes students from Berlin, Brookfield, East Haven, Farmington, Jonathan Law, Joseph A. Foran, the Metropolitan Business Academy, Pathways to Technology, Pomperaug, Stafford Springs, Stonington, Terryville and Windsor Locks, will travel to Quinnipiac. The program runs from 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

These students will learn about social enterprise in corporations where profit typically is dominant. Michelle Cote of the Social Enterprise Trust (reSET) will recognize an e-commerce entrepreneurship student’s business idea with the most potential to be a successful social enterprise. Students will then participate in two of 10 sessions led by Quinnipiac School of Business faculty. Session topics include: creating a business plan, web design and media, advertising and media, effective presentations, break-even analysis, social enterprise, pricing a product, concept of production and product design and creativity. 

Thirteen Connecticut high schools are involved with the E-Commerce Entrepreneurship course this year. E-Commerce Entrepreneurship is the 11th grade technology course for the Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Student work will be presented at the CT Student Innovation Expo in May with films submitted to the Connecticut Student Film Festival in April.

On Wednesday, sophomores from the Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, which is comprised of students from Bethel, East Haven, East Hartford, Engineering and Science University Magnet School, James Hillhouse, New Fairfield, Pomperaug, Shepaug, Stonington, Wilbur Cross and Wamogo, will head to Quinnipiac for a workshop on science technology, engineering and math. The program runs from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

They also will learn about six critical skills – information literacy, collaboration, communication, creativity and innovation, problem solving and responsible citizenship – as they relate to experiences beyond the high school classroom. Karen Bliss, an assistant professor of mathematics at Quinnipiac who uses sciences and engineering in her math research, will be the keynote speaker.

Additionally, students will attend two of six breakout sessions: making connections across the science, technology, mathematics and engineering disciplines; biochemistry and technology; engineering design; how to present data; mobile app design and theory; and directing.

These programs, initiatives by Connecticut Career Choices and the Center of 21st Century Skills at Education Connection, engage high school students throughout Connecticut in education that stimulates interest and develops skills in science, technology, engineering and math. Connecticut Career Choices recently received an Investment in Innovation Grant (i3) from the U.S. Department of Education to develop a 9th-12th grade Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.