 Welcome to the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. My name is Kim Logan and not only am I an admissions counselor here at the school, but I'm also a class of 1997 graduate. The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics was the nation's first public boarding school to offer a focused curriculum in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. And the school continues to lead the way in public education today. From the moment you set foot on campus, you know that this is a high school like none other. Right now I'm standing in front of Watts Hall, formerly the historic entrance to Watts Hospital. Now you may be wondering, why is there an old hospital on the campus of a science and math school? Well, let's take a tour and find out. In the late 1970s, Governor Jim Hunt, former Governor and Duke University President Terry Sanford, and Scholar John Ealy, along with many others, saw a need in North Carolina for a new kind of school that would emphasize science and math education. After the state legislature approved the funding by one vote, the plans for the school were finalized and it opened its doors on Durham's historic Watts Hospital campus in 1980, welcoming its first class of 150 students from all across the state of North Carolina. Today, the school welcomes more than 650 students from every corner of the state, all 13 congressional districts and nearly every county, tuition-free. Any high school sophomore who is a North Carolina resident can apply. And in 2007, the school became the 17th constituent of the University of North Carolina system. Pieces of the school's history can be seen all across campus. From Watts Hospital's surgery room, now the school's art studio, to the hospital's groceries, now classrooms students call fish tanks because of the small observation windows. But I bet you want to hear more about the students in the buildings, right? For that, let's head inside. From across North Carolina, students continue to answer the NCSSM Challenge. Every year, these juniors and seniors embrace a highly charged academic climate away from home. Students discover their own way to learn through smaller, collaborative classes and research and mentorship programs through Duke University, UNC Chapel Hill, NC Central, and NC State. Students at Science and Math also participate in more than 90 different clubs and activities ranging from fine arts programs to varsity and intramural sports. Let's talk to one of our students to hear more about the extracurricular experience. From the first day that I got here, I was a new junior. I had no idea where to go or what to do. And I was in my room and I looked out the window onto the field and there was a bunch of guys just playing soccer and I was like, wow. So I went down and started playing. I learned some guys' names, found out they had tryouts in a week. Winning the state soccer championship was, that was a big deal. A lot of people saw us as a surprise when we walked on to the championship game. The other team, really strong, they had scored something like over 100 goals in the season. We played our hearts out. I mean, the other team might have had a little bit more skill, but we fought and we got one and we won it. In addition to the exciting opportunities made available at NCSSM every day, each spring students participate in a seven-day academic experience called Miniterm. Miniterm allows students to explore an area of interest to them through a sponsored or self-directed project. Some students stay on campus to complete their projects while others travel to places all over the world. The NCSSM living and learning environment provides our students with a world of opportunity. Every student that attends NCSSM must live in one of the dorms on campus. Each hall is assigned a student leader called a residential life assistant and an adult supervisor called a student life instructor or SLI. For more about the residential experience, let's talk to one of our SLIs. As a student life instructor living here on campus, I wear a variety of hats. First of all, I live on a hall with 36 young men and I supervise them on the hall, organize activities and programs for the hall and things like that. I also teach a course called student life 101 and that course is required for all our juniors to take. They take it during their first and second trimesters. We cover a variety of topics that are basically success strategies that will help them succeed here at the school and also in life in general. We cover time management and study skills. We teach them how to write a resume and apply for a job, do a job interview and throughout the course we emphasize leadership skills as well. And the school has been continually committed to transforming today's students into tomorrow's leaders. One of the most important pieces of that transformation is teaching students about the importance of community service. Every student that graduates from NCSSM must complete 60 hours of community service during the summer and 3 hours of service per week on campus during the school year. Let's hear more from one of our cafeteria work service students. I probably wouldn't have chosen to do work service. I work for about 3 hours a week doing dishes for ever 650 of my classmates so something more work than I'd be doing at home, more chores, my mom would be doing otherwise. But I feel like it's a really valuable part of the school experience here. I've really come to almost enjoy it to an extent and it's totally worth it because I absolutely love it here. I love it. Hello Science and Math. This attitude of service is carried out across campus and beyond where the school continually engages the community. Every year, NCSSM hosts events and activities for the entire state like the annual American Indian Pow Wow, the largest pow wow in the southeast. Events like these, along with frequenting restaurants and coffee shops on 9th Street, help NCSSM students engage with the local community. NCSSM also serves students and educators across the state by providing educational opportunities through its distance education and extended programs division. As one of the pioneers of distance education, the school's instructors have been teaching students across North Carolina for more than 10 years. Throughout the year, NCSSM provides course content and enrichment programs via interactive video conferencing to schools across the state. IVC provides an environment most similar to the traditional classroom. Students can see, hear, and interact in real time with the teacher and all the other students. Each year, NCSSM provides hundreds of students, largely from low wealth communities with high level science and math programming, classroom collaborations, and virtual field trips to museums, colleges, hospitals, and other organizations here in North Carolina or around the world. In 2008, NCSSM began offering its rigorous courses online. Like the school's residential component, NCSSM online is a unique tuition-free program of rigorous advanced courses. This exceptional two-year hybrid learning experience gives students a unique blend of connections. Using state-of-the-art technology and a dynamic online learning environment, this program is enhanced by a residential summer experience as well as on-campus weekends throughout the school year. Through its distance education and extended programs, NCSSM reaches thousands of North Carolina students and educators during the school year, but it doesn't stop there. Every summer, hundreds of North Carolina educators come to NCSSM's campus for professional development workshops and activities. The campus also plays host to students from across the state who participate in focused science and math programs. At the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, you become a part of something. The experience here shapes minds and opens doors that lead to individual thought. NCSSM is leading North Carolina and the nation by proving that high school is more than just cliques, clothes, and classrooms. It's providing the kind of 21st century education that is the fuel for our statewide economic engine. I hope you've enjoyed your tour today and that you'll come visit us on campus to see for yourself why NCSSM is North Carolina's high school. We'll see you soon.