SuperCamp Success Story #4: Grant.

Grant took the SAT prior to learning memory strategies (known as mnemonics) at SuperCamp, and then again afterward. At SuperCamp he realized the power of these strategies and later applied them to learning a book of 2,500 vocabulary words. He did this in just two days before retaking the SAT. The mnemonics helped him raise his vocabulary score from the 66^th percentile (the score he got before attending SuperCamp) to the 99^thpercentile on the exam he took after attending. He also took the ACT and got a perfect 36 on the math section.

These scores helped Grant get into Cornell University and later achieve his MBA at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, ranked by Business Week as the #1 business school in the country. And now many years later, he uses these same memory strategies every day in his role of CEO of Harry Caray’s Restaurant Group in Chicago.

The Key Role of Memory Strategies in School Success

The ability to memorize information is more important than ever, in school and beyond. Although viewed by some as an outdated practice with the belief that it doesn’t contribute to the current focus on deep thinking and understanding, memorization through mnemonics builds a base of facts and information that is essential for thinking and understanding.

Strategies to memorize information, mnemonics include acronyms, keywords, anchoring to locations, songs, rhymes, and storytelling. They strengthen attention, imaging, and association and help us encode information into long-term memory so that it is easier to retrieve when needed.

Mnemonics are powerful and can turn frustration to amazement about our abilities. On the first day of SuperCamp we tell an odd story—with animation, body movement, sounds, and lots of repetition—that creates vivid images in the minds of students. They easily repeat the story and after a few rounds of practice we ask them What else might you have learned through this story? Content is embedded in the story and students are always amazed that they just learned the first twelve elements and symbols of the periodic table starting with a tale that includes “ha – hide your gem” that translates to H–hydrogen.

The ability to learn facts easily and remember them gives confidence to students. For some it makes the difference between I’ll never get this and I can do this! And, as we know, confidence leads to competence and motivation to do well.

Professor John Hattie, an Australian education researcher best known for Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement, has focused on defining the major influences on student achievement. In his paper “Understanding Learning: Lessons for Learning, Teaching and Research,” Hattie stated that “while there are many definitions of ‘learning’ . . . learning is the process of developing sufficient surface knowledge to then move to deep or conceptual understanding.” We need to learn and remember facts so that we can think, analyze and understand. Hattie created lists of the “effect size” of strategies—the amount of impact they have on learning. He found the top strategies that make a significant difference in learning include rehearsing and memorizing, and task strategies such as creating mnemonics to remember facts.

Memorization is necessary for learning and unlike rote memorization, which is based on repetition, mnemonics are an excellent stimulus for creativity and forming images, both of which are essential for effective learning. Mnemonics also help us focus and hold content in place as we build knowledge and associate it with previously acquired information. Mnemonics are vitally important and play a key role in education.

Students at SuperCamp gain skills and motivation to apply mnemonics to learning important content at school. For information about programs offered this summer on prestigious university campuses go to www.supercamparchive.com

Enroll today! 

Since 1982 SuperCamp has increased the academic and personal success of 73,000 students. Participants experience breakthrough learning, the 8 Keys of Excellence principles to live by, self-discovery, deep friendships, and fun! They learn valuable collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity strategies, and how to apply their SuperCamp experiences and skills to school, college, career, and life.

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SuperCamp Success Story #3: Austin

When Austin came to SuperCamp he felt he was doing fine in school. He had friends and an active social life. He had goals and wanted to be on his high school’s varsity golf team. If anyone asked him what he would change about his life, he would have responded that he’d like a slight improvement in his motivation and that would be it.

His parents saw it differently. They felt his grades could improve significantly. Although they felt Austin had the talent to get straight A’s and succeed in advanced placement classes, he didn’t have a single A or advanced placement class.

A postcard changed Austin’s life completely. Specifically, a postcard Austin’s mother received in the mail about a program called SuperCamp. Thinking that a summer program was a good idea, she contacted some people she trusted and asked about academic camps for 13-year-olds such as Austin. Every response she received talked about SuperCamp. She was sold.

Austin wasn’t sold. He called it “nerd camp” and didn’t see the need. But in the end, he became curious about the camp and agreed to go. His life change happened almost immediately.

From the first day, Austin met kids with different situations and challenges. He met kids from divorced families. He met kids with alcoholic parents. Even the children that grew up in his type of environment had different thoughts, beliefs and dreams. Yet, he was amazed at how every one of them managed to find real happiness despite their sometimes negative situations and even succeed with positive attitudes. He never realized he came from a sheltered background until SuperCamp.

He returned home with a different perspective than when he left. He realized his friends were holding him back. They couldn’t have fun without alcohol or at times even drugs. He wanted something different. He found new motivation to succeed in school. He realized he wanted more than to simply earn a spot on the varsity golf team.

Thanks to new perspectives and training he gained at SuperCamp, Austin broke from his old life and started a new one. He stopped hanging around with his “cool, snobby” friends and sought out better friends he could trust. He wanted better grades and took advanced placement classes. He set his sights on his high school’s “Most Outstanding Senior” award. Moving in a new direction wasn’t easy for Austin. It meant dedicating himself to his future and working harder in the present.

Near the end of the year, the school principal announced the award for “Most Outstanding Senior.” After listing the names of the nominees he paused and said, “The winner is . . . Austin!” His classmates all turned to congratulate him, and Austin was overjoyed. After class, he got to celebrate with his new, more trusted friends, without alcohol or drugs.

Austin believes that in addition to achieving success in high school, his SuperCamp experience empowered him to get into the college of his choice, and succeed there too. As a freshman at Santa Clara University, Austin found the techniques he’d learned at SuperCamp were invaluable and helped him deal with challenging exams as well as homesickness. He continued to achieve significant success in all areas of college life and received more awards. He was student body president and graduated with a bachelor of science in commerce/accounting and a minor in political science. He was awarded the 2008 Nobili Medal given by the faculty and provost to the male graduate judged outstanding in academic performance, personal character, school activities, and constructive contribution to the university.

After graduation, Austin traveled around the world on a three-month adventure during which he studied the impact of social entrepreneurship in developing countries. After his return, he was a senior associate at the accounting firm, Deloitte & Touche, and for three years served on the Board of Trustees of Santa Clara University as its youngest member.

Where is he now?

Austin is still succeeding and continues to use techniques he learned at SuperCamp. He completed a master’s degree in Global Policy Studies at the University of Texas at Austin where he focused on international trade and finance. He is currently the Vice President of Mergers & Acquisitions and Corporate Development at Upland Software, a publicly traded cloud-based enterprise work management software company. He is married and lives in Austin, Texas.

Enroll now—spaces are filling fast! 

For information about Quantum Learning’s SuperCamp go to www.supercamparchive.com

Since 1982 SuperCamp has increased the academic and personal success of 73,000 students. Participants experience breakthrough learning, the 8 Keys of Excellence principles to live by, self-discovery, deep friendships, and fun! They learn valuable collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity strategies, and how to apply their SuperCamp experiences and skills to school, college, career, and life.

The post Where are they now? “New perspectives and knowledge” appeared first on SuperCamp.

Duncan grew up according to the traditions and culture of his Chinese family. They were the same values taught at his conventional Chinese school in Hong Kong and everywhere else. Those values taught that the best way for a person to exist in a culture is conformity. Don’t stick out of the crowd. Do what everyone else does and accept it as your life.

Duncan wanted to break out of the mold. When he was fourteen, he would scribble weird drawings of his “new inventions.” When the other children talked of music, Duncan talked of invention. In a society that bred answers, Duncan asked questions. He felt discouraged from talking to other people because they never seemed to understand him or take him seriously. Slowly, he became timid about expressing his thoughts and asking questions. He started to doubt his logic and decisions. He felt isolated because he was different. He kept his views to himself and forced himself to conform to the norm. The more he conformed, the less he liked himself.

One day Duncan’s parents heard about an American camp held in Hong Kong that—among other things—helped children feel comfortable being themselves and following their interests. They heard that the camp “did amazing things” to help children with their grades and their self-esteem. Duncan was going to SuperCamp.

Like most participants, his transformation from insecure to confident happened gradually. At first he was awed by the dynamic curriculum and diverse cultural backgrounds of the other students. The longer he stayed, the more he became aware that people and their beliefs could be different. Through the camp’s activities and teachings, he realized the importance of diversity in thought and culture. He became more confident and realized that he possessed the power to become his own person.

After SuperCamp Duncan transferred to an international school in Hong Kong to continue his exposure to diversity. He made academic goals, found a summer internship, and started to embark upon pathways few have traveled.

At Tufts University, Duncan majored in environmental studies and Chinese. He wanted to understand firsthand what the developing China really needs and took a gap year to work in China, where he ended up establishing and directing a pilot sustainable development project. During this time, with a renewed and clear view of what he wanted to do, Duncan applied to and was accepted by Yale University where he continued his major in Environment Studies and obtained a B.A. magna cum laude and a Master of Environmental Management.

Where is he now?

Duncan is now Director of Product Innovation at Green Order, one of the world’s most influential strategy advisors in sustainable innovation. He advises companies on improving their environmental and energy performance. Duncan is married and has a two-year-old son. Duncan feels comfortable following unusual beliefs and desires as long as he has a clear purpose and reason for them. This mindset has served him well.

Enroll now—spaces are filling fast! 

For information about Quantum Learning’s SuperCamp go to www.supercamparchive.com

Since 1982 SuperCamp has increased the academic and personal success of 73,000 students. Participants experience breakthrough learning, the 8 Keys of Excellence principles to live by, self-discovery, deep friendships, and fun! They learn valuable collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity strategies, and how to apply their SuperCamp experiences and skills to school, college, career, and life.

The post Where are they now? “Building confidence to be oneself” appeared first on SuperCamp.

Charles’s mother, Regina, never expected to raise him completely alone. She had been divorced for a while, but her ex-husband still played a strong role in Charles’s life. There were struggles, but life was solid. That was before the three military men showed up at her door.

They told her that her ex-husband, Charles, had died in a helicopter accident. They wouldn’t go into the details, but Charles Jr heard it and went to the Internet. Within seconds, he knew the most intimate details of his father’s death. Reports said it wasn’t the crash that killed his father. It was the fire after the crash that consumed him.

Before long, the straight-A grades Charles had been bringing home started to drop. He seemed less and less interested in his friends. He became withdrawn and sullen. Regina needed to find a way to reverse this trend, and fast.

She had been thinking about what to do for many weeks when she noticed a packet in the mail. The information within concerned something called SuperCamp. She received a variety of mail on educational subjects every week, but something caught her eye in the material. This SuperCamp was dedicated to “making great kids greater.” Regina knew she had a great kid, but she knew that he could be greater, especially now since the loss of his father.

Charles wanted to go to SuperCamp. He liked what they taught and he wanted to go to a camp with “kids who knew how to do well,” according to him. He kept this positive attitude until his mother pulled up to the camp entrance. Then something in Charles changed. He was scared and cried when it came time for his mother to leave. Regina told her son it would be all right and kissed him goodbye. Noticing Charles’s discomfort, SuperCamp team leaders and other campers came up to him and assured him that everything would be fine. Without knowing them, Charles trusted these strange faces and agreed to stay.

From then on, the experience only got better. Charles met more and more kids from diverse backgrounds who supported him. Each activity and group session became more and more enjoyable. At one point, he learned a technique that impacted him in a way that would affect the rest of his life.

The technique was called Mind Mapping. It is a note-taking system designed to fit the way a brain best learns information. Charles learned to put the central issue of any test or study topic in the middle of a page. Then he would write the subtopics on lines that extended from the central issue. Once started, he could draw subtopic lines off the subtopics as necessary. This technique allows for large quantities of information to be shown on one page in a brain-compatible format.

Mind Mapping was just the thing to get Charles back into studying. He could organize his thoughts and map out lessons better than ever. He started to organize his classes in his notebooks to make it easier to get at his notes.

The term after SuperCamp, Charles came home with six As and two Bs, a sign that he was back on the right track. Studying became fun and several other students asked him to help them understand certain lessons.

Charles’s SuperCamp experience affected him in more ways than academics. Regina said he grew up and overcame some of his grief in SuperCamp. She didn’t worry about leaving him alone for a while or whether he would complete chores. He returned to making friends easily and without her help. Regina believes SuperCamp makes the world better one child at a time.

Where is he now?

Charles followed his father into the military and graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in the top ten percent of his class with a double major in management and Portuguese, and spent one semester in Brazil. He is currently stationed in Boston serving as Financial Officer, is working on his master’s degree, and is engaged to be married. SuperCamp helped Charles know who he is and what he wanted to contribute to the world.

For information about Quantum Learning’s SuperCamp go to www.supercamparchive.com

Since 1982 SuperCamp has increased the academic and personal success of 73,000 students. Participants experience breakthrough learning, the 8 Keys of Excellence principles to live by, self-discovery, deep friendships, and fun! They learn valuable collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity strategies, and how to apply their SuperCamp experiences and skills to school, college, career, and life.

The post Where are they now? “Getting back on track” appeared first on SuperCamp.