Posted on June 25: McMaster welcomes 52 of Canada’s brightest young minds

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/shad.jpg” caption=”Shad Valley students”]On Monday, July 5, 2004, McMaster University will welcome 52 exceptional young high school students from across Canada for the award-winning Shad Valley Program, an elite summer camp for science, technology, mathematics, and entrepreneurship.
Every year, out of thousands of applicants, 500 senior high school students who have demonstrated excellence in academics, recreation, leadership, entrepreneurship and community involvement are chosen to attend one of 10 participating Shad university campuses across Canada.
At McMaster, the aspiring young minds of MacShads are exposed to the inner workings of university life, complete with guest lectures, projects, and workshops, all with a dynamic business twist.
One of the major projects during the Shad program involves teams of students creating a business plan and developing a product, which they will eventually market to a panel of business people, engineers, and specialized experts from the local Hamilton area. The winning team will then present their final products at the Royal Bank Shad Entrepreneurship Competition, where their creative inventions are set against the winners from the other Shad campuses. This year, the entrepreneurship project presentation will take place July 26.
The month long program also consists of charitable events such as Shad-Do on July 7, which gives Shad participants the opportunity to venture into the local community and give of themselves. Centres that will benefit from these energetic young people include Parkview Nursing Home, Wentworth Lodge, McMaster Children's Hospital, and the Good Shepherd Centre.
Other Shad Valley events include Shad-City on July 10 when students will learn about being socially, environmentally, and economically prosperous through a field trip to Kelso Conservation Area where they build a model city from sand. On July 17, MiniShad Day, McMaster University and MacShad will welcome 150 high school students from the GTA to Waterloo area to experience Shad for a day and discover the academic opportunities available at McMaster. The intensive four-week program concludes July 29 when students' hard work and inventions will be on display for the general public.
Photo caption: MacShads are amazed by an experiment conducted during the Shad Valley Program. Visit the MacShad Web site for more photos from previous camps.