Seniors in the Blackman Collegiate Academy spent part of their Thursday, Sept. 14, visit to MTSU learning about programs like printmaking, unmanned aerial systems and more.

The MTSU-Blackman partnership is one of several arranged each semester during the academic year. It gives freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors opportunities to spend time on the college campus, meeting MTSU students, faculty and administrators and learning about many of the university’s 140-plus undergraduate programs.

Madi Fabber, right, a Blackman High School senior, listens as MTSU art assistant professor Nick Satinover explains the screen printing process Sept. 14 during the Blackman Collegiate Academy’s visit to campus. (MTSU photo by J. Intintoli)

When assistant professor Nick Satinover in MTSU’s Department of Art asked for a volunteer to make the first print, Madi Fabber jumped at the opportunity.

“I like trying new art processes,” Fabber said. “It’s all very interesting.”

Nathan Jenkins was one of eight Blackman students checking out MTSU’s Unmanned Aerial Systems Program, which was one of the first of its kind in the nation.

Blackman High senior Zach Rachidi, foreground, tests his skills in flying a drone in the lab with one of the MTSU aerospace unmanned aerial simulators Sept. 14 while other students observe and listen to Doug Campbell, center, explain the process. (MTSU photo by J. Intintoli)

Jenkins said he liked “the interdisciplines — math and physics, computer science and coding and engineering” — that students can find at MTSU.

Blackman students heard a GIS/remote sensing presentation from the Department of Geosciences, saw a Department of Biology DNA crime scene analysis lab, investigated a forensic problem in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, toured the College of Media and Entertainment’s Center for Innovation in Media and the university’s Albert Gore Research Center, and took part in a Jennings A. Jones College of Business Dale Carnegie engagement exercise and demonstration.

Launched in 2015, the Blackman Collegiate Academy is a special partnership between MTSU and the Murfreesboro high school that allows eligible juniors and seniors to take up to six hours of university courses taught at Blackman by MTSU instructors at no cost. The credits will count on high school and college transcripts.

— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)

MTSU unmanned aerial systems program director Kevin Corns discusses the different types of aircraft the aerospace department features with seniors from the Blackman Collegiate Academy Sept. 14 in the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Lab. (MTSU photo by J. Intintoli)