Posted by Mary Wimberley on 2010-06-04

Samford University will host 75 of the state’s top rising high school seniors June 13-25 for Alabama Governor’s School. AGS participants, who hail from schools throughout the state, will be at Samford for the annual two-week honors program for academically gifted students.

The opening ceremony will be Sunday, June 13, at 2:45 p.m. in Brock Recital Hall.

During AGS, students study major and minor areas of coursework. Topics including arts, law, health and science-related subjects, history and other areas of interest.  New this year is a course on global citizenship, which will consider the world as a global community with its far reaching political, economic and social implications.

The schedule will include a Tuesday, June 15, lecture and concert by pianist Kenneth Grigg, a recitalist, coach, teacher and clinician who attended the North Carolina Governor’s School as a high school student. Grigg will share tips on what audience members should listen for in classical concerts and discuss the composers and pieces that he will perform for the AGS students.

Participants will also experience the first AGS excursion to the American Village and the Alabama National Cemetery in Montevallo.  The field trip is sponsored in part by a grant from the Women’s Committee of 100 for Birmingham.

The students will attend a Barons baseball game and undertake a service project at the Birmingham Zoo.

This year’s AGS roster includes two students who made a perfect score on the ACT exam and one student with a perfect SAT score.

AGS participants are nominated by their schools on the basis of academic ability, leadership qualities, creativity and community service. Selection is also based on teacher and guidance counselor recommendations, and a student-written essay.

AGS has offered a unique summer experience for high school students since its founding at Samford in 1987. Similar programs are held in states throughout the U.S.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 5,791 students from 49 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.