| Centre for the Talented Youth of Ireland | |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1992 |
| Headquarters | Dublin City University |
| Location | Ireland |
| Key people | Dr. Colm O'Reilly, Eleanor Cooke, Catriona Fitzgerald |
| Website | CTYI |
The Centre for the Talented Youth of Ireland (CTYI) is a youth programme for students between the ages of six and sixteen of high academic ability in Ireland.
There are sibling projects around the world, most notably the CTY programme at Johns Hopkins University, the original model for CTYI. CTY students are eligible to participate in CTYI's summer sessions for older students. CTYI was founded in 1992 and is based at Dublin City University in Glasnevin, Dublin 9. Dr. Colm O'Reilly has been its director since 2005. The centre offers various courses for gifted students as well as conducting research and promoting the needs of the talented in Ireland.
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Summer courses are available for 6-7-year-olds and 8-13-year-olds (one-week sessions) at DCU and at other colleges and institutes of technology around Ireland. These students normally study two related subjects in either the morning or the afternoon session.
The summer programme for older students (12-16-year-olds) runs only at DCU. Two sessions of three weeks each run each summer, usually from mid-June until the end of July or early August. Demand in recent years has meant that eligible students have only attended one session each year, though as of 2009 students may attend both sessions.
Some of the students at the summer programme come from overseas, mostly from the United States. Owing to the intensive nature of the programme, most of the 190-250 students who attend each session are residential, living in college accommodation for the duration of the course.
Weekdays in the summer programme are highly structured. Classes run from 9am to 3pm, with an hour's break for lunch. Activities take place from 3.15pm to 5pm, supervised by the residential assistants (RAs). Between 5pm and 6:30pm students have dinner and are required to attend a meeting with their RA group. 6:30pm to 8:30pm is taken up by the study period, which is supervised by the teaching assistant. Social time takes place between 8:30pm and 10pm, with lights-out at 10.30pm. On weekends, social activities such as discos, shopping trips, visits to the cinema, excursions to various interesting sights in Ireland, talent shows, mock casino nights and so on are organised.
Students on the older students programme study one subject intensively over three weeks. The courses on offer tend to cover material that is at first-year university level or its equivalent, and involve subjects not taught (or widely taught) for the Leaving Certificate. The subjects offered vary slightly each year.
In 2010, the following courses were offered: 21st Century Technology Skills, Astronomy, Biomedical Diagnostics, Computer Applications, Criminology, Engineering, Experimental Physics, Film Studies, Game Theory, Heritage Studies, Human Rights Law, Japanese, Journalism, Medicine, Modern Business Acumen, Novel Writing, Personalisation: Making the Web Fit Me, Philosophy, Psychology, Social Psychology, Speech Therapy, Sports Science, Veterinary Science, War & Conflict Studies, Write Act Perform, Writing for Life.
Saturday courses are offered at various colleges and institutes of technology around Ireland throughout the year. There are courses for both the 6-7 age group and the 8-13 group. DCU also run classes on Wednesday afternoons.
The centre runs correspondence courses throughout the year for 12-16-year-olds and also for Transition Year students who do not have to fulfil any aptitude test requirements. Courses include or have included Writing By Mail, Journalism, Psychology, Philosophy, Legal Studies, and Science of Tomorrow. There are also correspondence courses for younger students (8-13) in computing-related subjects and Writing By Mail.
These are once-off days at DCU, usually Saturdays, which feature a lecture or series of lectures on a particular topic of interest, e.g. "The Science behind Superheroes".
The centre also administers and runs the Centre for Academic Talent and the Summer Scholars programme at DCU. As with CTYI courses these are aimed at primary and secondary school students but have different entry requirements and a slightly different focus.
Colm is the highest-ranking staff member at CTYI. He served as Acting Director of CTYI after Dr. Sheila Gilheaney retired in 2004 before being appointed Director in 2005. He is ultimately responsible for everything that happens at CTYI and students may be sent home at his discretion for serious misbehaviour as set out in the rules given upon arrival. Before becoming director he was assistant director and originally worked with the Centre as a Residential Assistant on the summer programme. He is renowned for his ability to treat each student in a way that is best suited to their needs and knows the name of practically every child on the course.
Eleanor is responsible for the academic parts of the course. She has been around for many years in various roles. In 2004 when Colm became director of CTYI and the assistant director role was removed she was given the job of academic coordinator.
During the school year Catriona is the other Academic Coordinator at CTYI along with Eleanor Cooke. During the summer programme she has traditionally taken on the role of Residential Coordinator. She is responsible for the day-to-day running of the residential course and is above the assistant residential coordinators (ARCs) and residential assistants (RAs). She is pursuing a PhD on the topic of early university entrance, via the School of Education at DCU.
The Centre also employs several permanent administrative staff.
As the on-site programmes available for students are part-time and/or short-term, most of the staff associated with these programmes are contracted for a set period of time. Residential staff are hired for either 3 or 6 weeks (summer programme only) while academic staff are hired for 3 weeks, 6 weeks, or on a part-time basis during the year (e.g. an eight-week Saturday course).
These staff (usually 2, 1 male and 1 female) are responsible for the care of the students at CTYI during the 12-16 summer courses. They live in the residences with the students and are the highest-ranking staff members when Catriona and Colm are absent (e.g., at night). They are in charge of the RAs also. An ARC may hold the position for a number of years running, one of the current ARCs named Mary Heslin has held the position for 4 years running.
RAs are responsible for the care their RA group (normally a group of 18-22 students) and they report to the ARCs. Any residential students will bring up issues with their RAs. They may also act as mentors to the students if they are having problems settling in. Typically there is a mix between former CTYI students and those who have not attended the programme.
Instructors are generally professionals who are willing to give up 3 weeks of a year to work with CTYI's students. They are hired on the basis of specialist knowledge in a particular field and a rapport with young people. Some are former CTYI students and/or have worked on the programme as RAs or TAs.
A TA's primary function is to assist the instructor during class time and supervision and assisting students during study period.
On the part-time programmes during the year, additional administrative staff are hired to coordinate Saturday programmes.
It was announced in the 2009 Irish Government Budget that the government would not continue funding CTYI. Up to 2008 the Department of Education had been providing the course with €97,000. The move was criticized by CTYI staff. However a spokesperson for the Department of Education said that “the resources available for next year meant that difficult choices had to be made and the abolition of the grant to the Centre for Talented Youth was one of those tough decisions.” The government had planned to allow CTYI to become a national mandate.[1][2]
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2009/0311/1224242651684.html