Rising junior and senior high school students will have a chance to sample a Beloit College education when a new program called “Summer LABS” debuts in June.

The three-week-long intensive courses earn Beloit College credit and allow high school students to work closely with Beloit’s faculty while experiencing residential campus life. During the 2011 pilot year, accepted students will choose one of three courses in the sciences and humanities. Just like lab science courses do, these classes are designed to emphasize learning and discovery in small groups and teach creative ways of putting those lessons into practice.

In its inaugural year, Summer LABS will offer courses in physics, dance, and creative writing. In subsequent years, course offerings will change and are expected to expand in number.

This summer, Assistant Professor of English Fran Abbate’90 will offer a poetry seminar through Summer LABS that has students analyzing published poems and then practicing the craft of writing and revising their own poetry. Her manuscript, Troy, Unincorporated–a retelling of Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde, set in Southeastern Wisconsin–was a semifinalist for the 2010 Walt Whitman Award and a finalist for the Four Way Books Intro Prize.

Associate Professor of Theatre Arts (Dance) Chris Johnson will lead dance students as they refine their technique and learn about using dance to reflect and respond to issues that matter to them. Johnson is the director of Chelonia, Beloit’s resident dance company. Her choreography has been regularly selected for gala concerts at the American College Dance Festival Association’s regional festivals.

Dobson Professor of Physics Paul Stanley is slated to teach a course that introduces students to the physics of waves and oscillating systems as applied to sound and musical instruments. In addition to teaching at Beloit (and playing the trumpet), Stanley directs the U.S. Physics Team, which involves selecting and training high school students to represent the nation in the International Physics Olympiad.

Students are admitted to Summer LABS based on the strength of their personal essay, a recommendation letter, and high school transcript. Applications for the 2011 session are due by April 30. Visit www.beloit.edu/summerlabs for more information.