Summer school: High school students across Missouri attend Missouri Scholars Academy

Nina Scheibe doesn't mind being called a nerd. And she's in good company. The 330 Missouri teenagers who went to the Missouri Scholars Academy for three weeks in June don't mind calling it a nerd camp, either.

The students — all about to enter junior year in high school — pretended to be college students from June 8 to June 28. They chose a major, picked a minor and stayed in the Mark Twain residential hall at the University of Missouri in Columbia.

"I wasn't homesick at all," Scheibe said. "It was so much fun."

High schools all over Missouri nominate one student — more depending on the size of the school — to participate. Grant Eudy, Julie Langenfeld and Scheibe all went from Cape Girardeau. Rachel Finney, Courtney Rodman and Benjamin Schloss were all eligible to go from Jackson. Mia Pohlman from Perryville was also accepted.

Scheibe said she saw a few familiar faces like Julie, Courtney and Benjamin, but she met more people while she was there.

"You could sit down at a lunch table and within five minutes you had new people sitting with you," she said.

Missouri Scholars Academy boasts camaraderie and confidence as two of the main benefits of attending the camp. The teens accepted to the program are among the top 0.5 percent academically. Students at the top of the spectrum often have trouble finding peers. According to Ted Tarkow, associate dean of the College of Arts and Science at the University of Missouri and co-director of Missouri Scholars Academy, the academy shows them they're not alone.

Scheibe said her favorite part of the academy was the new friends she made.

"After evening meeting until curfew, we'd always go and hang out on the columns," Scheibe said.

— Chris Harris