Marsalis Turéll Fowlkes Attends Summer Youth Program at Michigan Tech

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Marsalis Turéll Fowlkes

HOUGHTON, MI (08/08/2011)(readMedia)-- It's like the best of summer camp and school rolled into one. Hundreds of high school students spent a week or more exploring dozens of different fields of study at Michigan Tech over the summer. They lived in residence halls, took classes and enjoyed the unique recreational opportunities in the UP.

Michigan Tech's Summer Youth Programs and Scholarship Programs, which end this week, had something for just about everyone--from sixth through 12th grade. Seven categories of explorations included business, computing, engineering, humanities and social sciences, leadership, outdoor and environmental studies, and science and technology. Classes ranged from the predictable to the astounding: the wide world of chemistry, computer graphics, motor sports, molten metals and plastics, and blacksmithing, to name a few.

Marsalis Turéll Fowlkes, 17, an 11th grader at University High in Ferndale, stayed four weeks on campus. He studied "Bridges, Dams and Skyscrapers: Building Big" in week one; "Engineering the Human Body" in week two; and the National Summer Transportation Institute in weeks three and four.

Fowlkes and a fellow student designed and built a model trestle bridge made of balsa wood. "I love projects like this where we get to put our heads together and solve a problem," he said. "Balsa wood is very light, and we had to figure out how to make it carry more weight than it weighs itself."

Fowlkes wants to be an engineer. "But I want to be creative too," he said, "and that's what this summer program encouraged me to do."

Fowlkes is the son of Valjeanna Fowlkes-Allums and Wayne Allums.

Michigan Technological University (www.mtu.edu) is a leading public research university developing new technologies and preparing students to create the future for a prosperous and sustainable world. Michigan Tech offers more than 130 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in engineering; forest resources; computing; technology; business; economics; natural, physical and environmental sciences; arts; humanities; and social sciences.