Math + Science + Leadership = The MSL Program

University of Washington Tacoma
Institute of Technology

July 21 - August 15, 2008

Monday - Friday
8:00 am - 4:00 pm

The Math Science Leadership (MSL) Program is a six-year program that begins with a four-week summer session, for marginalized students who will be entering the 7th through 12th grades, in the 2008-09 academic year. The MSL Program uses inquiry-based curriculum that prepares our youth for lifelong learning and has a strong emphasis on projects, with a firm foundation in the fundamentals. The 2008 MSL summer session has three main components: mathematics, science, and leadership.

The mission of The MSL Program is to encourage, motivate, and inspire students to pursue and succeed in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields by accessing higher education.

Goals

• Help students recognize and develop their potential to excel in math, science, and technology.
• Ease the transition from middle school to high school and high school to college.
• Encourage the pursuit of math and science electives at the high school level.
• Encourage students to enter college academic programs that focus on these fields (e.g., computer science).

Expected Impacts

• Provide opportunities for students to tackle subjects in math and science outside of the traditional school curriculum by offering a different style and pace of learning.
• Students will be in a peer environment that reflects their own diversity and culture, allowing them to build a supportive cohort.
• The cumulative nature of the program allows students to develop academic skills over time, as well as leadership skills.
• Each year's focused activities allow the student a chance to apply the skills learned, and to have a real-life grounding in how math, science, and technology can be used in jobs and academic careers.

Students who have confidence in their academic and leadership skills are more likely to pursue their interests in higher education and beyond. A more diversified population in fields that are traditionally dominated by white males (i.e., math, science, technology, etc.) will lead to greater creativity, productivity and a multiple-perspectives approach to the products, research and information that emerge.

More Information

• Program Photos
• Featured Student
• MSL in the News

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