Sylmar : Program Gives Pupils a Taste of College

About 45 San Fernando Valley teen-agers gave up two weeks of their summer vacation to tackle assignments in biology, chemistry and computer-aided design.

The Youth Enrichment Seminar, which ended Friday at Mission College in Sylmar, allowed students from six schools to learn, hands on, about each topic.

“Our whole idea is: Instead of giving them the boring lecture, which they already have in school, we want them to learn chemistry with fun,” said instructor Maria Fenyes. “We want them to learn chemistry the way they want to, not the way we think they should.”

Having more fun meant no homework assignments and plenty of time to tinker with lab equipment.

Students spent part of Thursday figuring out how to permanently inflate a balloon within a glass flask.

After trial and error that led to a few broken flasks, some melted balloons and one singed notebook, students learned to inflate and deflate the balloons by filling them with water vapor and exposing them to extreme temperatures.

From there, students went to the computer lab to discover how to draw a three-dimensional object with a hole through it.

“It’s fun,” said Kathy Choy, 17, of Kennedy High School. “At my school, they show us the labs. We don’t get to do it.”

“It’s been great. It’s interesting,” said Germine Vardanyan, 17, of Granada Hills High School. “And it’s only two weeks. It’s not that long.”

Students from Monroe, San Fernando, Sylmar and Verdugo Hills high schools also participated. The program, which offers class credit, provided students a glimpse of college life.

“We really treat them like college students,” said biology instructor Marie Panec. “They’re responsible for themselves.”

Several students said they would recommend the program.

“We actually thought there was going to be a catch to this because everyone was so nice to us,” Choy said.