Summit Session Descriptions & Speakers

• Youth workshops are for Current Davidson Youth Members only.  Students can only attend one workshop in each timeslot. 
• Workshops are crafted to provide a fun, interactive and engaging interest exploration experience for students with time to connect alongside like-minded peers.
• Each workshop below will be offered in all three time slots (Saturday AM, Saturday PM, and Sunday AM). 
• During each time slot, workshops will be designated on a varied rotating basis for either Youth (approx. ages 5-8), Tween (approx. ages 9-11), or Teen (strictly ages 12-17) ages to help differentiate who is joining during each time slot. 
• The title and description remain the same for all three age groups, but presenters may differentiate content as appropriately needed. 
• Alternate Sessions for the Game Room and Arts & Crafts room do not require pre-registration and are available for current youth to be signed into on a first-come, first-served basis during each timeslot.
• Youth workshop signups will be after the event registration is released. Families who register for the Summit prior to this release will receive an email notification with the signup link when available. Families who register after this release will have access to the workshop signup link in their confirmation email sent after the Summit team verifies their registration. Families will choose their own workshops for youth directly through our form. Each workshop is capacity based, and reservations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. 

The secret to main character energy is confidence and self-assurance. Confidence isn’t just what you say—it’s how your brain, body, and heart work together. In this lively, interactive workshop, Dr. Shirley “Dr. Shirls” Vazquez reveals the science of presence through engaging challenges and mini speaking moments which helps shape connection, calm nerves, and communicate clearly. You’ll learn how eye contact, tone, body language, and mindset can change your vibe and how to show up as your most real, grounded, and unshakably confident self. Whether you’re presenting, performing, or just vibing with friends, this session helps you shine like you mean it.

Dr. Shirley Vazquez: Dr. Shirley “Dr. Shirls” Vazquez is a nationally recognized life and leadership coach with over 25 years of experience developing leaders across the U.S. A sought-after speaker and educator, she empowers children, youth, and adults to build self-reliance, confidence, and purpose. Holding advanced degrees in leadership, counseling, and education, Dr. Shirls combines education, empathy, and vision to help individuals reach their fullest potential and create lasting community impact.

In this workshop, students will explore the mathematics behind some strategy and chance-based games. We will investigate surprising probability patterns with non-transitive dice, then play and analyze some other classic games while adding some surprising twists along the way. We will also examine game theory through examples such as the Prisoner's Dilemma, discovering how mathematical reasoning can shape strategic decision making.

James Marshall: James Marshall has been a Math Instructor at Davidson Academy and Davidson Academy Online since 2011. Currently living in Hawaii, he enjoys spending lots of time in the water snorkeling, freediving, and spearfishing.

What do you get when you combine visionary leaders needing creative solutions? You get Roman inventions! From the best navy and army in the world, luxurious living, inspiring architecture, and superb literature, many of the modern conveniences we take for granted were fashioned by the ancient Romans. Join Regan Barr to explore some of the top Roman inventions that we are still using today.

Regan Barr: Regan Barr is the co-founder of The Lukeion Project, an online educational institution focusing on the Classical World. Regan did has graduate work at the University of Cincinnati, and has over a decade of excavation work in the Mediterranean. Sites he has excavated at include the Decapolis city of Abila in Jordan, the Mycenaean citadel of Midea in Greece, and the fabled site of Troy in Turkey. The Lukeion Project is celebrating its 20th year of online education.

What if you could build a solar system with your own hands—starting from dust? We will use hands-on activities and stuff from around the house to simulate the first billion years of a solar system. We will learn about protoplanetary disk fragmentation, coagulation of the first rocks, formation of gas giant planets and their moons, accretion of the rocky planets through impacts and mergers, and planetary differentiation.

Amy Barr Mlinar: Amy Barr Mlinar holds a PhD in astrophysics and BS in planetary science from Caltech. She is a parent and founder dedicated to supporting gifted students. Amy and her husband -- both former Ivy League professors -- founded the Young Talents Lab to create rigorous, challenging materials for advanced learners. Amy brings 25 years of experience as a NASA-funded researcher and as a teacher and mentor of gifted STEM students from K-12 through higher education and research.

We say that cats and dogs are opposites: their claws, legs, tails, mouths, ears, noses, and eyes are systematically distinct. And their differences go beyond their bodies and into their minds: the ways they behave (and even perceive the world) are polar opposites!

Why? What’s the deep reason underneath all these superficial details?

In this hyper-interactive workshop, Brandon will guide you into (and, with luck, out of!) a real evolutionary mystery. Bring your love for pets as we pay ridiculously close attention to feliforms and caniforms (including weasels, mongooses, and bears) to uncover the single hidden pattern that explains everything amongst the carnivorans.

Brandon Hendrickson: Brandon’s the founder of Science is WEIRD, a sprawling online science course that helps clever kids fall in love with all the levels of the world. He has a master’s in educational leadership and a couple of bachelor’s degrees, and lives in Minnesota with his wife and three kids. He’s helping shape a new approach to education at his Substack, The Lost Tools of Learning (losttools.substack.com), and is writing a book on a new approach to homeschooling.

In this fast-paced workshop, students work through short, hands-on puzzles custom-designed for Davidson’s youngest thinkers by gifted-education specialist Matt Benet. Each tactile puzzle contributes to a larger, multi-step logic structure modeled after puzzle hunts. Students manipulate physical mechanisms, test ideas, and follow emerging patterns as they work together toward a final unlock. The workshop is structured so that focus, reasoning, and collaboration emerge naturally, as students quickly realize these approaches move their team forward.

Matt Benet: Matt Benet is the founder of edRev, supporting gifted and twice-exceptional students through meaningful challenge, community, and mentorship. An award-winning gifted educator, gifted lecturer, and former CTY instructor, he brings deep expertise in hands-on, curiosity-driven learning. He also has a knack for recognizing exceptional potential... several students he first met in workshops were tapped to collaborate with him on advanced projects. By popular demand, Matt is returning after last year’s Summit.

In this engaging workshop, students will learn how to create characters using their voice, body and emotion. They will then work within a group to perform a familiar children's storybook. With support from Ms. Jackson each group will cast, rehearse and perform their story.

Kirsten Jackson: Kirsten Jackson has been teaching in some capacity for 28 years: public, private, online, homeschool, and even her own program. Currently she teaches online theatre, writing, and social skills for Young Scholars Academy and Outschool and she teaches in person at "Ms. Jackson's Theatre!" an afterschool program for local children. She also directs a community theatre she founded in 2024. She lives on a small farm in Oklahoma with her youngest child and plethora of animals!

Ugh, poetry. It’s the worst, right? Most of it doesn’t make any sense, it sounds old-timey, and majority of those poets are just chopping up sentences arbitrarily to make line breaks.

I thought this way, too, until I learned that there are actually a lot of rules and patterns and precision required in order to write a good poem; poetry requires quite a bit of talent and intellect. Yes, there are some badly written poems floating around out there, but when you read a well-crafted one, you get to engage with a work of art.

In this workshop, you’ll learn some poetry basics, how to figure out the meaning of a poem, and how to craft one. But you won’t be writing on your own! Through games, lively discussion, and rapid writing activities, you’ll experiment with words and form to craft a collection of collaborative poems as a group. You might not transform into a poetry devotee, but there’s a good chance you’ll leave the workshop with an appreciation for the genre. (Bonus: you might learn some ways to impress people in the future with your ability to decipher a poem’s meaning!)

Ashley Ingle: Ashley Ingle has been an English instructor with Davidson since 2017. She enjoys writing in a variety of genres and has had pieces published in a diverse set of publications.

Check back later for more information!

Check back later for more information!

Check back later for more information!

Typically, all youth and non-member siblings must be supervised in the game rooms and arts & crafts rooms. However, youth have the option to be signed in for staff to supervise their student during Youth Workshop hours only. The rooms are still accessible to families supervising their own children as well.