All-male summer STEM program seeks candidates of color for 2020 class

Students work on an assignment in the summer SMASH program at Morehouse College. (HANDOUT PHOTO by Mikki K. Harris)

Students work on an assignment in the summer SMASH program at Morehouse College. (HANDOUT PHOTO by Mikki K. Harris)

SMASH Morehouse, a summer STEM-intensive program for high school students, is looking for its 2020 class.

The Morehouse program is part of the SMASH Academy, a three-year program  that empowers high school students of color to thrive in science, technology, engineering and math careers. SMASH was developed by the Kapor (Kay-por) Center, which works to diversify the tech industry.

Applicants should be current high school freshmen of color who attend school in metro Atlanta.

SMASH Morehouse is the only all-male iteration of the program, which has programs at the University of California-Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA, University of California-Davis, University of Pennsylvania, Southern Illinois University, the Illinois Institute of Technology and Wayne State University in Detroit.

SMASH participants will live at Morehouse and take classes in subjects including computer science. After graduating, the participants are eligible for five-week internships through SMASH Rising, which works with the SMASH participants after they graduate high school.

Locally, the program has grown from 28 to 81 scholars representing 30 high schools across metro Atlanta. It gives students access to  both rigorous coursework and field mentors and support networks.