For Immediate Release:
June 19, 2014
High Tech students run
academic outreach program
Teach middle school students about
public speaking and ‘mind control’
LINCROFT, NJ—On Saturday, June 14, High Technology High School opened its doors to a group of sixty-nine middle school students from across Monmouth County. 
Students from more than twenty towns preregistered for a day of classes taught by High Tech upperclassmen.
“This program, created by High Tech students, is just another example of the innovation and commitment to academic excellence by our vocational schools,” said Freeholder Director Lillian G. Burry, liaison to the Monmouth County Vocational School District. “This program provided a great learning experience for both the middle school students who attended as well as the upperclassmen of High Tech who ran the program.”
Advertised as an academic outreach event, HTHS Splash derives its name from the annual
Splash! programs run by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which provided the inspiration for this spinoff event run entirely “by students, for students” and specifically catered to a middle school audience. Directors of Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s MIT Splash 2013 were Eric Mannes, Corinn Herrick, and Amy Estersohn attended the event at High Tech.
Throughout the day, sixth through eighth grade students engaged in classes such as “How to
Dominate a Room: A Public Speaking Workshop,” “How to Make Your Friends Sad with
Photoshop,” or “Mind Control: A Look into the Field of Optogenetics,” all taught by students with experience in their chosen discipline.
Currently ranked the #2 STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) high school in the nation by the U.S. News and World Report, High Technology High School is constantly looking for ways to reach out to the community.
“We’re just a group of students who are passionate about educating the next generation and sharing our ideas with other enthusiastic learners,” said High Tech senior and cofounder Sarah Lin. “Splash allowed us to do that. It started with this crazy idea that I proposed to a few friends, and then we made it happen.”
The high school students’ mission in organizing this event was to share this love of learning with their middle school peers and inspire them to also pursue their creative and ambitious ideas.
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