Rockefeller Center faculty, assisted by undergraduates including myself, helped teach leadership skills to high school students in the Dartmouth Precollege Summer Scholars program.
The newly launched immersive academic summer program for students aged 15 to 18 offers a diverse course catalogue both online and in-person, and helps students get a head start on their college experience.
It is led by Dartmouth instructors whose mission is to help students grow both intellectually and personally.
"My teacher was incredible, and this experience, I'm going to remember it for all my life." - Lucas Gabriel Siqueiran
This summer, Dartmouth Summer Scholars premiered the Leadership Institute, welcoming 59 high school students from across the world to experience challenging academics in the classroom and through outdoor learning. Taught by Rockefeller Center Executive Director Anna Mahoney in collaboration with Outward Bound, the program fostered intellectual curiosity by challenging ideas of what it means to be a leader.
In the classroom, Mahoney created a bright and welcoming environment where students learned how to critically analyze dilemmas leaders encounter. They challenged each other constructively, offering high-level discourse on political leadership and public policy making.
"Everyone in the class was really involved, and I loved both the challenge of the case studies as well as what we learned from them. It was really awesome to learn about the different types of leadership in different ways throughout history." - Mia Mastrangelo
The Leadership Institute leverages an integral part of the Dartmouth experience, the outdoors. Summer Scholars studied at the AMC Highland Center and AMC Joe Dodge Lodge in northern New Hampshire, guided by the instructors at Outdoor Bound. The high school students in the program bonded through physical exercises such as a scavenger hunt and the Tyrolean Traverse, where they were challenged to learn and build a tightrope across a creek with little guidance, putting the lessons about group dynamics and navigating uncertainty that they had learned in the classroom to the test. Scholars were constantly challenged to think not just like a leader, but also as a listener, friend, follower, and observer.
"Here I learned a lot about self-awareness and listening to what others have to say; I practiced taking in everyone's perspective before I go out and make a decision." - Anton Schmidt
As a Dartmouth undergraduate, I had the opportunity to work with the Summer Scholars alongside Jayesh Choudhary '27. Together, we facilitated exercises that encouraged group dynamics, self-awareness, and values-driven decisionmaking. We also hosted coffee chats as an informal way for Scholars to ask questions and get an authentic glimpse into student life at Dartmouth.
I loved getting to know the Scholars over the course of the program. Seeing how much they were able to grow over just two intensive weeks really highlights why a program like this can be so impactful, regardless of where they go on to attend college.
At the end of the program, the Summer Scholars left with a toolbox of skills and perspectives. Through daily exercise, they reflected on their personal experiences and growth, challenged preexisting assumptions, and learned to better understand their own beliefs about leadership.
"In a landscape where many peer institutions are offering summer programs, this offering is unique to Dartmouth," said Lucretia Penfield '10, director of precollege programs at Dartmouth. "The Leadership Institute harnesses both the high-caliber academic study of a subject and the character- and relationship-building that Dartmouth is known for."
Penfield also said that no other institution can offer such beautiful outdoor spaces as a classroom.
Mahoney said she plans to continue teaching the Leadership Institute in partnership with Dartmouth Summer Scholars. She said, "Seeing students at a different stage of development enabled me to reflect on my own teaching techniques. I learned new classroom activities and modes of engagement that I will be able to bring into my undergraduate classroom this fall."
Registration to next year's program opened October 1. For more information, check out the Summer Scholars website, Precollege.Dartmouth.edu, or email Summer.Scholars@Dartmouth.edu.
Written by Grace Chang '28