Talk:National Youth Science Camp

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ALUMNI PLEASE READ THIS NOTE Any camp alumni who choose to add or change any part of this article, please make certain that you do not reveal too much information regarding the happenings of the camp. Remember, anyone looking into the camp might stumble upon this and it would only ruin the experience for them. EagleFalconn 07:02, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Change to Program History and Inception
I've viewed the latest changes to the NYSC page, and I'm both concerned and curious. An anonymous user has added: "An interesting tidbit to note is that during the process of female initiation into the program, a contract was written with clauses to provide more teacher and nurse lecturers, to provide more domestic seminars, and a less competitive athletic and outdoors program." I was on staph from 1973 through 1975 (the year that women were added to the program), and I don't remember any contract at all, let alone one that "dumbed" down the program in this way. Where is the documentation for this? I'll give our anonymous friend a week or so to see this and reply, before I change it. J5cochran 07:42, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

Content from old version: 02:19, 7 September 2007
Please feel free to add any of this content to the current version of the article:

The 'National Youth Science Camp,' or NYSC, is a science education program that takes place in the Monongahela National Forest in the state of West Virginia every summer. The program is intended for high achieving high school graduates intending to pursue careers in science, engineering or mathematics. The program is administered by the National Youth Science Foundation, which collects funding from the government of West Virginia, the US Department of State, contributions from private corporations and individuals to provide this opportunity to participants free of charge. Many of the program's special events are intentionally held in relative secrecy by those who have participated in order to foster a carpe diem-style atmosphere that is an unique feature of the camp.

Program History and Inception
The NYSC program was created as a part of West Virginia's Centennial Celebration in 1963 and was originally intended as a one-time celebration of youth and science. One hundred delegates - two from each state - were invited to the camp to honor their accomplishments and to meet others with similar interests. For many years, it was an all-male camp. During the process of female initiation into the program, a contract was written with clauses to provide more teacher and nurse lecturers, to provide more domestic seminars, and a less competitive athletic and outdoors program. Today, the camp recognizes the equality of both genders and plans the lectures, seminars, and outdoors programs accordingly.

After the successful completion of the first camp, the delegates, staff, and other participants realized that NYSC provided a unique learning experience and pressed the state to continue it. West Virginia fully funded the Camp until 1983, when budget problems caused that year's camp to be canceled. That summer the National Youth Science Foundation was founded as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, initially intended for the purpose of raising funds to continue the NYSC.

In the history of the camp, there have been ten directors and over 4,000 delegates.

Philosophy
The NYSC encourages the carpe diem philosophy. Participants in the program are accomplished recent high school graduates who frequently have planned out much of their lives. Students have typically just finished four years of high school with a number of extracurricular activities or sports, and they have often just finished a stressful college admissions process. Once at the program, the schedule is shared with students one day at a time, so they can enjoy the simple pleasure of living each day to its fullest rather than worrying about the next day's events.

This unique opportunity leaves many alumni with very fond memories of camp. The lack of expectation put on the delegates gives both a sense of freedom and a realization of the responsibility that comes with living outside of high school. All those who work to plan and execute the camp each year are also working to put the delegates in an absolutely unique environment in which they can flourish in all directions.

Funding
The program is provided free to all attendants, regardless of their place of origin (the camp currently also brings in delegates from other countries such as Canada, Argentina, Bolivia, Panama, Venezuela, Trinidad, Germany, Jamaica, Mexico and Peru). This includes all travel, lodging and events. Attendants are encouraged only to bring a small amount of spending money. The approximate cost incurred by the program is $3,500 per delegate.

The program was created in honor of the Centennial of West Virginia's entrance to the Union and was intended to occur only once. However, the program proved popular and has continued to function since then from funding by both the state of West Virginia and private donations from companies such as Dow Chemical, which has a plant located outside of Charleston, West Virginia. As with all government allocations, though, the amount of funding was apt to fluctuate, and in 1983 the program was not held, even though delegates had already been selected. This resulted in the formation of the National Youth Science Foundation to raise funding and ensure operation of the program each year. One funding mechanism created by the foundation is the Adler Endowment Fund, established in honor of Isidore and Annie Adler, who were heavily involved in the program for many years and were personal friends of Isaac Asimov. Current projections state that if the endowment reaches a size of 5 million USD, the NYSC should be able to operate in perpetuity.

Delegate Selection
For delegates within the United States, selection is coordinated by the educational department of each state government. For international delegates, the process varies. For instance, the Canadian delegates must attend Forum for Young Canadians a program sponsored by the Government of Canada to inform Canadian youth on the governmential process within Canada. This is to ensure that the delegates are an excellent representation of Canada. Delegates from Mexico receive a nomination from their high school, which gets sent to the Secretary of Education. Each state or country convey their selection to the camp director (currently Andrew Blackwood).

There has been criticism of the camp, particularly in recent years, regarding delegate selection. It is no secret among alumni that there is little competition for the camp in some states. Some states only send a single delegate of its allotted two because of a lack of interest. Other states have made awarding of seats much more competitive by making one seat available through the state science fair and the other through a nomination process at each high school. This selection method, while effective in drawing attention to the camp, precludes some intangible factors that would be taken into account in traditional selection. The camp director also furnishes a rubric to each state selection committee that is available on the internet.

This discrepancy is at odds with the goal of the camp. Despite this discrepancy, the varied mix of delegates who arrive at camp each year makes for a completely unique and unpredictable set of individuals. It has been noted that pictures from each year aren't particularly different from other years. Yet the delegates of each year feels that their experience was special and perfect for them.

Despite a sometimes loose selection process, the students each year are just as bright and eager to learn as delegates of other years. This suggests that the camp is self-selecting, in that students who are of the caliber that the camp seeks are primarily the ones who apply.

Sources and Further Reading

 * Website of the National Youth Science Camp
 * National Youth Science Camp Alumni Association
 * National Youth Science Foundation

Anna Frodesiak (talk) 19:46, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

Possible future conflict of interest contributions
I emailed the organization and invited them to expand the article neutrally. Just letting you know. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 02:27, 3 August 2012 (UTC)