For a select group of Rome City students, summer means a little more time in school, but they don’t mind.

The Young Scholars program invites rising fifth- through eighth-graders to participate in courses and activities at local colleges for one week. Students are chosen based on grades, attendance, teacher recommendations and behavior.

“I pretty much like everything,” said Lohan Lizin, 12, a rising eighth-grader participating in the program for the second time. “I’ve always liked Young Scholars since the first time I was in it.”

Lizin said one of his favorite activities this year was learning how to create a slideshow on a computer. Most of the activities are hands-on and students are broken into small groups so teachers can give them extra attention.

This week’s activities for rising seventh- and eighth-graders are at Coosa Valley Technical College and Berry College. The program continues next week with fifth- and sixth-graders at Georgia Highlands College and Shorter College.

“It keeps growing every year,” said Jennifer Pilcher, a seventh- and eighth-grade science teacher at Rome Middle School. “A lot of the things we do are pretty challenging, and these kids love to be challenged.”

At CVTC on Tuesday, one group of students learned about how dirt absorbs water by using a sponge. The same group spent time in the CVTC greenhouse examining plant roots and different soils.

The class was led by Shannen Ferry, director of environmental horticulture at CVTC.

“I have loved it,” said Ferry, helping with the program for the first time. “Anytime we have an opportunity to talk to school kids, it’s great because they’re so receptive.”

Young Scholars starts around 9 a.m. each morning and lasts until 4 p.m. It is free of charge for students, includes transportation to the colleges and provides breakfast and lunch.

“The purpose of the camps is to recognize and encourage our top-end students,” said Randy Phillips, program director for Rome City Schools. “They have a real strong desire to learn and apply themselves, and we use the camps to give those students a precursor for what they get when they go into the next grade.”

Phillips said the program not only benefits the participants but aids teachers because they don’t have to explain basics to everyone in their class when school begins again.

“It (Young Scholars) has grown every year because the kids get to talking about it and students wish they would have come,” said Pilcher. “Also, it throws all of these kids together. They might not even know each other but they have to work together.”

Thirteen-year-old Eldresha Dublin has been in Young Scholars for four years and said she was excited about the opportunity to tour a room with medical equipment at CVTC because she wants to be an ultrasound technician.

“I’m really excited for the kids who have the opportunity to have these experiences and make those tough decisions about what classes they want to take in high school,” said Phillips, who hopes Young Scholars will help children start to make some long-term decisions about their future careers.