FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What Exactly is Wright Bound?

Wright Bound is a cooperative effort between Wright State University (WSU) and Dayton's public middle schools. It is a two-summer, all-expense paid academic program for highly motivated middle school students. Teaching is done by talented college and high school students. The program's goals are twofold: (1) to empower exceptional students to do well in high school programs; and, (2) to encourage college and high school students to fully experience the challenges, exhilaration, and realities of teaching.

What About the Summer Program?

The six-week summer program is conducted on WSU's main campus. Each student takes four academic morning courses (language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies) and two afternoon electives (e.g., basketball, choir, theatre, improvisation, film making, foreign language, swimming, or ladies leadership). Class sizes are small. The work is demanding, skill-based, and designed to prepare students for success and graduation from college preparatory high schools. All students complete at least one hour of homework each night to reinforce study skills (e.g., active reading, organizational skills, and test taking tips).

What About the Year-Round Program?

The program provides students with bus transportation to and from Wright State (via RTA); a nourishing meal; all academic materials; and instruction in two electives and the four core courses (math, science, social studies, and language arts). The commitment to Wright Bound also includes a year-round curriculum featuring monthly Saturday sessions and other enrichment activities (e.g. attending athletic events, cultural presentations, and theatre productions).

Who Are the Students?

Promising seventh and eighth graders primarily from Dayton's public middle schools participate in the program annually. Through the enriching and rigorous academic environment, students learn study skills, improve their self-esteem, and develop leadership skills that can be used in their schools and within their communities.

Who Are the Teachers?

The student teachers include Wright State students and selected local high school students who are interested in pursuing a career in teaching. After an intensive week of training, the student teachers are responsible for developing curriculum, teaching academic and elective courses, as well as conducting activities, special events, and student advising.

What Are the Special Events?

Below is a brief overview of what the special events are. For detailed information about the special events, please click on the EVENTS link.

Student/Teacher Orientation: This is a spring event that gives new and returning students the opportunity to meet and mingle with other students and meet their student teachers.

All School Meeting: This is a daily meeting that includes current events, skits, special announcements, an asset-based word of the day, and the Wright Bound clap.

Spirit Day: Prior to beginning Wright Bound, students are divided into clubs. Spirit Day is a major pep rally. Each club comes up with unique names, as well as banners, chants, claps, dances, and skits to present to the other clubs.

Parent/Teacher Conferences: Student teachers meet individually with parents to discuss student progress.

Olympics Day: Students take part by playing silly games such as a three-legged race, an egg toss, or finding bubble gum in a plate full of flour. Each club participates in the events and students cheer each other on to victory. This event is organized by the Math teachers.

Culture Day: The purpose of this event is to expose the students to many diverse communities and cultures. Students participate by dancing, singing, doing skits, or writing poetry to show their culture. This event is organized by the Social Studies teachers.

Service Learning Day: Through various projects, we teach our students the value of serving others. Students give back to the Wright State community as a thanks for using the University's facilities. This event is organized by the Science teachers.

Celebration: The finale to the summer! Friends, families, and supporters are shown what was accomplished through displays, on-stage performances, and skits. This event is organized by the Language Arts teachers.

Why Wright Bound?

Need: There is a strong need in our country to provide high-quality summer programs that will help supplement what students learn in school. Students need opportunities to gain the skills for success and to develop the self-esteem required of future community leaders.

How we can help: Wright Bound provides an intensive program for approximately 50 Dayton's public middle school students. The middle school participants have an opportunity to return the following summer to complete the two-year Wright Bound commitment, and to share the experience with new students.

Need: Over the next ten years, America will need to hire two million new teachers due to growing enrollments and teacher retirements. Given these statistics, attracting exceptional high school and college students to careers in education is a serious challenge.

How we can help: Wright Bound addresses this challenge by providing an educational opportunity for student teachers every summer. College and high school students interested in pursuing a career in teaching are supervised and trained to plan their curriculum and teach two academic classes and one elective class with confidence and proficiency.