Kentucky State University organized a 3-week long Summer Apprenticeship Program (SAP) from June 7-27, 2015 to introduce rising high school students to the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) including agricultural, environmental and geospatial related disciplines. The program was designed to prepare them for college programs and careers in STEM field through hands-on experiential learning, research, and college-prep projects. Twenty-nine students from 25 high schools participated in the program. The Proceedings of the Summer Apprenticeship Program consists of 22 scientific research papers in the areas of Agriculture and Food Sciences, Aquaculture, Behavioral and Social Sciences, Molecular Biology, Computer Sciences, and Geographic Information Sciences submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the SAP program curriculum. As part of the experience, students undertook intensive research projects lasting two weeks that culminated with oral presentations delivered during the program closing ceremony with all student program participants, research mentors, student families, and KSU leadership in attendance. The SAP organizing committee would like to thank all the mentors who provided invaluable assistance and time to the apprentices for conducting experiential research and preparing scientific reports. We would like to extend our deep appreciation to Dr. Kirk Pomper, Interim Director of KSU Land Grant Programs and Ms. Blair Thomas Hess, Media and Communications Manager, for reviewing the SAP Proceeding and administrative support. Finally, we would like to thank the National Science Foundation Historically Black College and Universities-Undergraduate Program (NSF-HBCU-UP Award # HRD-1332477 & HRD-1436426), and the United States Department of Agriculture-Capacity Building Grant (USDA-CBG Award # 2013-38821-21120 for providing funding supports to the SAP program.
Dr. Buddhi Gyawali, SAP Director Jeremy Sandifer, STEM-Project Director
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