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Hope College Visits the Nicholas Academic Centers

Hope College, located in Holland, Michigan, and one of 40 colleges included in Loren Pope’s Colleges That Change Lives (CTCL), recently visited the Nicholas Academic Centers to inform students about the Hope College environment and answer questions about Hope’s many programs. According to the CTCL website, “Hope ranks in the top 5% among private, 4-year colleges in terms of alumni earning a Ph.D.”
Greg Kern, Associate Director of Admissions for Hope College, met with NAC freshmen, sophomores, and juniors and discussed the importance of choosing a college that best fits them as students, a point emphasized in the NAC’s College Knowledge workshops. Some considerations for making the “best fit” include class size, experiential learning options, and areas of study. The average class size at Hope is 20-22 students, which is small compared to some larger class sizes offered at other schools; the small class size allows students and faculty to work more closely with one another and ensure that the students’ learning needs are met. Hope College also offers 200 study abroad programs in over 60 countries, and is accredited in a wide range of majors, including art, dance, music, theatre, chemistry, education, engineering, nursing, and social work, among others. Mr. Kern also discussed course-load capacity, time management, and the Phelps Scholars program.
The visit is one of many scheduled throughout the school year, all of which are aimed at exposing students to highly ranked universities they might not have otherwise discovered. Several colleges have participated in the NAC Visiting Colleges program, including Morningside, Colgate, Wooster, Wabash, Haverford, Hampshire, and Hendrix, to name a few.
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The Nicholas Academic Centers Climb Aboard Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Big Rig

Students of the Nicholas Academic Centers are taking part in a “food revolution.” A dozen NAC students are participating in a five-week course aboard the “Big Rig,” a mobile cooking and nutrition school funded by the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation and The California Endowment.
The first class focused on teaching students to limit their sugar intake and make nutritious breakfasts, like the “All-American Pancakes” and the “Simplest Fruit Salad.” Chef Henry Perez noted that adults shouldn’t eat more than five to eight teaspoons of sugar per day; he then taught students to convert the grams of sugar marked in the nutritional information section on food packages to teaspoons (one teaspoon equals four grams). Most students poured a portion size of cereal that equaled four serving sizes, dramatically increasing their sugar intake. A portion size of Frosted Flakes included a serving of 16 teaspoons of sugar, twice the daily allotment. After a quick demonstration, students worked together to make a healthy breakfast of pancakes and fruit salad. According to Jose Hurtado, a student participating in the class, “The pancakes were really easy to make. My mom would be shocked if I made her a meal like this.”
The second class continued in similar fashion to the first, exposing potentially dangerous amounts of sugar and fats in snacks like candy bars, Cheetos, and gummy bears, and then offering healthier alternatives like all-natural fruit chips. The Food Revolution crew also encouraged students to monitor their sodium intake, noting that an unassuming product like ketchup contains surprisingly high levels of sodium, as do go-to snacks like instant noodles. Moving in natural progression from the first lesson, which featured a breakfast meal, the second class introduced a healthy lunch: barbecued chicken (made with homemade bbq sauce) and an everyday green chopped salad. Students broke into groups of three or four and prepared their meals, being careful not to cross-contaminate any food or utensils, especially when working with chicken. The end product resulted in a healthy, tasty bbq-chicken-and-salad pita sandwich.
NAC students will participate in three more classes before earning the Jamie Oliver Food Revolution program completion certificate.
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NAC Students Know That Grainy Ice Cream Still Tastes Good

Grainy ice cream still tastes good, as the Nicholas Academic Centers students found out at the most recent Visiting Scholars Series. Chapman University professor, Dr. Prakash, spoke on the science of how we taste food.
Food gains taste through its chemical makeup and through our perception of food. As we approach our food, we evaluate a dish’s edibleness through all of our senses. Prakash explained how we perceive a potato chip as fresh if it crunches when we bite into it.
Prakash ended her engaging presentation through a detailed demonstration of how the chemical makeup of all of the components work together to make ice cream. By mixing cream, sugars, and emulsifiers, and then stirring the mixture as dry ice froze it, Prakash and the student volunteers created ice cream in just a few minutes. Because the NAC is not an industrial food, the mixture was not as evenly blended, which resulted in larger ice crystals and a grainy feeling when the students ate it.
The event was well attended and enjoyed by all who participated, and the students look forward to next month’s visiting scholar.
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NAC Student Katherine Mitchell Earns a Place in the Harvard Secondary School Program

Tuesday, February 27, is a day Nicholas Academic Centers’ student, Katherine Mitchell, won’t soon forget. After spending the morning and early afternoon nervously checking emails for a status update on her application to the Harvard Secondary School Program, Katherine decided to relax by getting back to work: “I checked my email all morning and realized I just needed to focus on other work I had to get done.” A couple of hours later, when the email came in, she read the news. She had been accepted into Harvard’s summer program. “I was so excited; I couldn’t believe it!” she says, wearing a smile similar to the one she wore when she first opened the email.
Katherine is no stranger to the college experience. Currently, she is a sophomore at Middle College High School at Santa Ana College. She takes college-level classes during the day and spends her evenings studying at the Nicholas Academic Centers in downtown Santa Ana. She is also involved in a number of extracurricular activities, including mock-trial, which she wrote about in the essay she submitted with the application to the Harvard program. Katherine participated in a mock-trial competition, using evidence in various case studies to build arguments for the trials. Her group made it through four phases of the competition, winning verdicts along the way: “We didn’t win the entire competition, but we did well and won a couple of decisions while we were in it.” Katherine will be able to use this experience when she takes the summer seminar on Insanity Defense at Harvard.
The Harvard program runs from June 23 to August 10. Katherine will be a part of the NAC for three years when she leaves for Harvard in June. We wish her the best and know she’ll represent the NAC well!
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NAC Students will learn “The Science of Food” at the next Chapman Visiting Scholars Series

The next installment of Nicholas Academic Centers’ and Chapman University’s Visiting Scholars Series will be “The Science of Food” by Dr. Anuradha Prakash.
Prakash will  discuss the chemistry behind the food we eat,  how fat and protein molecules interact to turn milk into ice cream, how taste buds work, how taste and smell help us determine what to eat, and much more.
She presented on this topic in the 2010-2011 inaugral series, much to the enjoyment of those who attended. Through a live demonstration, Prakash used the elements of ice cream to illustrate how their chemical interactions create the sweet treat.
This event will run from 10:30 AM until 1:30 PM on March 3, 2012 at the NAC 1 Annex located at 313 N. Birch St., Santa Ana, CA, 92701. This event is free and open to the public.
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Dr. Michael Shermer Examines Belief Theories with NAC Students for Chapman Visiting Scholars Series

The students of the Nicholas Academic Centers enjoyed a presentation on the Believing Brain from Dr. Michael Shermer at the most recent Visiting Scholars Series.
Students were challenged to critically analyze how society builds and reinforces belief systems. Student Katherine Mitchell stated that the lecture helped her “use critical thinking in everyday life, in what people tell you, trying to sort out lies.” Mitchell added that Shermer’s lecture helped reinforce the idea that “it’s okay to say, ‘I don’t know,’” when a person is uncertain.
This latest installment in the year-old series broadened the students’ perspective while introducing them to the college lecture format. Through activities such as these, NAC students are better prepared for the college experience.
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Chapman Visiting Scholars Series

The Nicholas Academic Centers’ Chapman Lecture series is part of the center’s yearly programs that target and prepare SAUSD students for college. Started in the fall of 2010, the partnership between Chapman University and NAC has produced 20 lectures so far  on a variety of topics.
The presentations have covered subjects from Disney and Darwin, to the science of food, to experiments in economics. Chapman University professors have included the Chancellor of Chapman University, the program director of the food science department, and a Nobel laureate.
NAC students and the community learn about topics beyond the scope of daily life through these lectures. The professors from Chapman University create the environment of a college classroom, which prepares students for their future education.
The Nicholas Academic Centers and Chapman University hold lectures on the first Saturday of the month through the school year. Dates and lecture titles are publicized a month before, and the event is always free and open to the public.
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Learn, Apply and Grow

Efficiently generate cross-unit channels rather than competitive quality vectors. Dramatically strategize user friendly value and holistic relationships. Uniquely formulate out-of-the-box interfaces and economically sound users. Objectively promote alternative leadership skills after client-centered functionalities. Seamlessly transform market positioning relationships whereas user friendly supply chains value and holistic relationships.  [···]

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Efficiently generate cross-unit channels rather than competitive quality vectors. Dramatically strategize user friendly value and holistic relationships. Uniquely formulate out-of-the-box interfaces and economically sound users. Objectively promote alternative leadership skills after client-centered functionalities. Seamlessly transform market positioning relationships whereas user friendly supply chains value and holistic relationships.  [···]

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