2005 Winter Newsletter.p65 - Saturday Academy

Saturday y Academ
cademy
Director’s
Letter
Dear Friends and Supporters,
Did you
know?
93% of students who
take SA classes would
recommend their class to
their friends!
89% of apprentices say
that ASE influenced their
choice of college major
With this newsletter we celebrate the old and the new—both longevity and innovation.
Mohammad Sabri has mentored for Saturday Academy’s ASE program for 15 years!
Susan Olson has taught classes on human chromosomes for over 20 years! Steve
Rosenbaum, an ASE apprentice in 1991, brought his experience full circle 13 years
later by mentoring an ASE student in his company last summer (see feature next
page). Doug Strain, founding board member, remains actively engaged at 85 years
young. And Saturday Academy, having celebrated its 21 st year, is now fully-launched
into adulthood.
We owe our longevity to our “crown jewels,” the instructors and mentors who belong to
Saturday Academy. That they return year after year tells us they appreciate having a
way to express their love for their professions and avocations, a way for them to continue
their own learning. These adults love to teach, and we enjoy helping them.
At the same time, new things are always afoot at Saturday Academy. This summer we
will be expanding the number of summer camps we are offering based on the success
and popularity of last summer’s Engineering Camp. We are developing new classes in
architecture/CAD and muscle physiology (to include observation at a cadaver lab). A
partnership between SA and Intel has created new training and support for teachers
and students preparing for science fairs. True to our mission, Saturday Academy
works hard to stay at the cutting edge of content and format.
Young people crave knowledge. This was true in 1983, it is true today, and it will still
be true 21 years from now. One 10-year-old recently returned from his Saturday Academy
class and, with a sigh of relief, announced to his mother: “Finally! Today I found
out what E=mc 2 means!” Finally.
Saturday Academy’s founders wisely recognized the importance of bringing together
passionate students with passionate mentors, outside the structure of the traditional
classroom and beyond the artificial pressures of benchmarks and test scores. This
freedom to learn for learning’s sake has enriched the lives of over 100,000 young
people since 1983. That our founders’ dream would flourish into all we are today is a
testament to their understanding that the human mind never outgrows its innate curiosity.
That we continue to find innovative new ways to help kids follow their curiosity is
a testament to the creativity that grows from the desire to share and nurture a love of
learning.
Joyce Cresswell
Executive Director
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