Summer Camp 2023

.Our 7th Annual Summer Academy from the campus of Long Beach State was a huge success, engaging 65 mostly new BOSS scholars.  Click here to view the closing program and here for a short video that captures some of the excitement of this year’s summer academy.

Our academic focus was on analytics, coding and data science.  Students learned how to create variables, exploit relational Boolean operators and direct logical flow control in two distinct software development environments:  Scratch (visual coding platform), and Java (traditional text-based modern programming language).  Students also built 3D game content with polygon-based geometry, diffuse materials and 24-bit color texture maps.  Our boys also learned Python basics, data science analysis techniques, and ways to communicate their findings.  In addition to time spent on language arts/reading, our middle schools engaged daily in learning how to build a claw bot and understanding robotics engineering principles.  By the end of the academy, all had improved their technical know-how and honed their problem-solving skills. 

BOSS Academic Coach Emmanuel Evans, a 2023 CSULB grad (Business Management), led a college to career bootcamp, that helped students “begin with the end in mind”, including identification of a career pathway and tracking backwards through college to develop a plan of action for their educational future.    BOSS founder and CEO Everett Glenn used the camp to introduce students to our foundational BOSS pillars (Economic, Emotional, Mental, Physical, Social, Spiritual) and Good to Great principles through daily programming.

Through a Long Beach harbor tour, students learned about the Port; a variety of groundbreaking green programs the Port has implemented to reduce the environmental impact of operations; and the Port’s mission as a key part of the local, regional, national and international economy.  Students also enjoyed a  SoFi tour, an immersive, behind-the-scenes experience that took students on a journey through the creation of the largest stadium in the NFL and one of the most technologically advanced buildings in the world. The tour also put the students in the heat of the action, showcasing what it feels like to be a player on game day.  A special treat:  a tour of the Kinsey Collection, featuring pieces of fine art and historical artifacts that celebrate the untold stories of African American brilliance. The collection is considered one of the largest and most comprehensive of its kind focusing on the lives and accomplishments from the 16th century through the years of slavery and emancipation to the civil rights movement and modern-day.

Ryan Tolan of Glad Academics led our data science programming, joined by Kwesi Davis of Algorithm & Flow with coding and Tarquinn Curry, Robotics.  Instructors were supported by Kierra Manual, 2023 Master’s candidate in  Applied Statistics, 2023 Master’s in Applied Statistics grad Grant Williams, our BOSS academic coaches (Daniel Glenn/UC Santa Barbara, Aaron Golden/CSULB Masters, Rhetoric,  Gospel Agi-Otto/CSULB, Chemistry, Na’eem Wilkins/Shaw University, Business) and BOSS dad and special education teacher, Ryan Ballard.

Jymm Adams led our daily Jump Start. 

Guest speakers included David Isaac Bangor, Predictive Analytics and Data Science advisor at SCE: commercial real estate investor Cedric Ferrell; NFL Media Senior Manager Cam Ross; Deloitte senior managers Prathamesh Kubal and Abel Sun; LA Rams Data Analytic Manager, Jake Temme; a team of HSBC’ Bank reps, including Senior Corporate Banking Leader Yasmeen Sollas and the Pentagon’s Alfred Hull.

We once again closed out the academy with a fun and exciting, interactive basketball clinic presented by the Los Angeles Lakers.  Their team focused on the fundamentals of the game and the clinic was designed to make physical fitness fun and included instruction on ways to stay active and healthy and the importance of proper nutrition and hydration.