San Antonio youth 'PREP' for future at engineering summer camp

By Claire Jenkins
Public Affairs Specialist

(June 13, 2012) -- The San Antonio Prefreshman Engineering Program (SA-PREP) has an impressive track record. Ninety-eight percent of the students who complete one summer of SA-PREP go on to enroll in college. And last year, three-quarters of the program's grads were members of minority groups.

Today, SA-PREP welcomes approximately 1,300 entering middle and high school students for the start of its seven-week summer program, which was founded in 1979 at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) by Manuel Berriozabal, UTSA professor of mathematics.

"The PREP program is not your typical summer camp," said Rudy Reyna, PREP executive director. "The students enrolled understand it is academically intense and are here to learn the fundamentals in the STEM areas -- science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Through PREP, students are prepared so they can be better problem solvers and so they can successfully pursue careers in science, technology and engineering."

The academic levels of the program -- PREP I, PREP II, PREP III and PREP IV -- are presented over seven weeks through lectures, project-based learning, seminars and hands-on activities that allow students to learn and apply advanced STEM concepts. The curriculum includes but is not limited to mathematics, problem solving, engineering, physics, technical writing, water science, computer science, research and STEM career awareness. In addition to gaining a jumpstart on advanced topics in the hard sciences, PREP students have the opportunity to earn college scholarships and high school credit.

In San Antonio, PREP I will be offered at the UTSA Main and Downtown campuses, Northwest Vista College, Northeast Lakeview College and Palo Alto College. PREP II will be offered at the University of the Incarnate Word Dual Enrollment Center, San Antonio College, St. Philip's College Southwest Campus and Texas A&M University - San Antonio. PREP III will be offered at St. Mary's University and PREP IV will be offered at the UTSA Main Campus. All programs run June 13-July 31.

Through the Texas Prefreshman Engineering Program (TexPREP), approximately 2,000 additional Texas youth will participate in the program across the state. TexPREP locations include Arlington, Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Edinburg, Fort Worth, Harlingen, Houston, Laredo, Lubbock, McAllen and Victoria.

>> Learn more at the PREP website or call 210-458-2060.

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