<p>I keep hearing about it and know all burnett kids take it. </p>
<p>But what exactly does the class entail?</p>
<p>Here is how it is described in the catalog:
IDH 1920H BHC-HON 2(2,1)
Honors Symposium I: PR: Permission of Honors. Readings, lectures, discussions, and laboratories covering aspects of scholarship and service learning. Graded S/U. Fall.</p>
<p>Symposium has a lot of different elements. The main one is, is that every week you go and see a speaker that will talk about whatever field they specialize in. There are speakers on racism, american history, biology, gardening, and everything in between. Then, you also have a session with an upper level honors student who discusses the speaker and other issues.</p>
<p>The next thing is, is that you participate in a field trip with your breakout group for a cultural experience which could be a play musuem, or whatever you group decides on. </p>
<p>Another element is that you have a mandatory service learning project called junior achievement where you go to a local elementary school and teach kids a civics lesson on money, family, communities, and other subjects. </p>
<p>I think that covers everything you do. It is really a good way to volunteer, meet people, and maybe hear about a subject you don’t know about.</p>
<p>Symposium is a pass/fail class you are required to take at Burnett. Meetings are mandatory as figured into your pass/fail status. My S actually enjoyed it better than he expected. Some of the speakers he felt were “lame,” but at the same time he enjoyed others that he didn’t expect to enjoy. He had a fourth grade class, I think, for J.A. All I remember about that is he had to have his dress slacks and a nice shirt to wear going into the school to teach. They also spent some time at the Give the Kids the World site in Orlando, interacting with some of the children who have life-threatening illnesses. Overall, he enjoyed the experience and it was a good way to meet other Burnett kids and different profs that he might not have had exposure to … in fact, I think he found one he’d like to take a class from because of this guy’s talk.</p>
<p>zebes</p>
<p>Hm… any other Burnett secrets they don’t tell us before we pay the money to be in the program?</p>
<p>infeatheredeyes,</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong. My S thinks the Honors program has been extrememly beneficial to him in a variety of ways. Obviously, the upfront perks are the honors housing and pre-registration opportunities. For example, he’s already registered for fall and spring next year, and it hasn’t opened to the general public yet and most of them can’t register for spring. He constantly uses the computer lab at Burnett between classes. He loves the free printing, saves a ton of money on ink cartridges. His honors economics professor asked him to interview for a job in the economics dept., helping with research. This is an opportunity that was offered to a first semester student. I doubt he would have had it without being in the honors program. He already had a freelance job that he liked so he didn’t pursue it, but to be offered the opportunity to turn down was kinda cool. The advising has been wonderful and very one on one. Anytime there’s been a difficulty that he’s needed assistance on he’s gone to Rex, and it’s been handled, including opening up additional english honors composition classes when several kids got shut out this spring semester. The small feeling in a large university … and the knowledge that they want to help you succeed … priceless. Pay the fee and enjoy!</p>
<p>zebes</p>
<p>I really like the idea of Junior Achievement, so I’m looking forward to that.</p>
<p>Yeah, many people do not want to do JA but once they are actually in the class with the kids they love it. I know many people go back and do it every semester even after it is not required. You can also get scholarships for doing it and I believe they are $500 dollars so it doesn’t hurt.</p>
<p>Yeah, the only part I’m not thrilled about is the lecture portion. I can see where it’d be helpful, don’t get me wrong… it’s just that lectures with teenagers generally don’t go over well.</p>
<p>I think they do a lot more through their small groups, based on what my son has told me.
My older son was in the honor’s college at UF, and they didn’t have something like this. I think the Symposium really helps the kids feel they are part of a community, and helps them get involved with Burnett and its activities, etc.</p>
<p>Yeah, I like the idea that we’re all in it together. Overall I like the idea of Symposium, I just wish that Burnett would offer us more informational material before we apply and accept and whatnot.</p>