Timeline for Summer Honors 2021

• Monday, November 16   
  • ​Nomination form sent to teachers
• Friday, January 29
  • All nominations must be submitted to ESU #11
• Monday, February 15
  • Screening Exams will be available and codes will be sent to nominating teachers. We ask that teachers be responsible for monitoring student candidates while the students take the exam. Portfolio/Resume sheets will be available online for nominating teachers and nominated students to access.
• Friday, February 26 (By 4:00 p.m.)   
  • Exams must be completed and portfolios and resumes must be submitted to ESU #11. All Art portfolios must be in original form, drama data must be delivered, but Creative Writing and resumes for Special Intern and Web Master/Photographer can be submitted either electronically or physically.
  • If you have any questions on this, please contact either Destinee or Janelle at 308-995-6585 or jjack@esu11.org
• Friday March 26
  • ​​Notification letters will be mailed to students letting them know whether they have been accepted to the Summer Honors Program or not.
• Wednesday, April 14
  • Deadline for students to claim spots on CampDoc

Summer Honors Program 2021
Will be held June 13 – June 25

What is Summer Honors

The nationally recognized program is sponsored by Educational Service Unit #11 in Holdrege. (The program was recognized by the International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development as one of the top gifted programs for rural students in the nation.) 

The Summer Honors Program is a two-week, summer school program designed to help students learn as much advanced subject matter in their areas of study as possible. The program is housed out of the Holdrege High School.  It is designed to help students find out exactly how far they can go in two weeks in one subject area if they are allowed to progress as fast as they can. According to Janelle Jack, Coordinator of Gifted Education at ESU #11,  “The Summer Honors Program brings master teachers from across the country to Holdrege so that students are exposed to as many expert teachers and geographic backgrounds as possible.”

During January each year, teachers are asked to nominate their best students in the areas of Agriculture, Art, Creative Writing, Computer Science, Drama, Engineering, Film Production, Logic, Math, Medical Science and Science. These students were given a test or asked to submit a portfolio of original work in order to qualify for the program. There were 565 student nominations for SHP 2019 from the six-county area served by Educational Service Unit #11 and 127 of those students were selected as finalists for the program based on their written work and portfolios.

A “typical” day of the program has the following schedule: Students meet for morning announcements at 8:15 a.m.; classes run from 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. with breaks; supper is from 5:00-7:30 p.m.; and evening activities are scheduled from 7:30-11:00 p.m. (Some nights may be earlier or later depending on the activity.)  Students will meet in small groups at their lunch time on an alternating schedule.

This “typical” day schedule is in effect on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of the first week. There will be no Saturday classes. The second week classes are held Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  Friday is the last day of the program. A Reception and “Graduation” exercises will be scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on that last Friday.

The evening Large Group Activities include the Poetry Slam, Mobile Escape Room, trip to Johnson Lake Recreation area, Movie Night and Dinner/Dance. The Drama Class will be performing “James and the Giant Peach” on the second Wednesday of the program at the Tassel Performing Arts Center in Holdrege.  The Summer Honors Talent Show will begin at 7:30 prior to the play. This performance will be open to the public with a free will donation.

The Medical Science students’ days are quite different because they will be in Kearney, and Holdrege at various facilities during the first week and rural hospitals during the second week, including Phelps Memorial Health Center in Holdrege, Tri-County Hospital in Lexington, CHI Hospital and Kearney Regional Hospital both in Kearney. 

The Summer Honors Program is a work school, not a vacation school.