The Academy of Excellence and Primary Scholars at Ohio University Southern has living proof it works: its interim director.

It’s little wonder that Eileen Wild is so excited about the program, which allows advanced students to further their education during the summer, as it gave her a leg up when she was just a tot.

Now while giving it all the credit for her success may be a slight stretch (she was pretty young, after all) but the classes did leave her with a lot of good memories.

“It was a neat opportunity because you met a lot of area students, it wasn’t just the same kids you went to school with every day,” Wild said. “We get a good mix of Tri-State schools, not only Lawrence County, but also into the Ashland area.”

It’s not just the students that are different from the everyda activities, it’s also the curriculum, which, with its classes on everything from weather to videography, strives to be outside the norm.

“It’s a different opportunity to experience different classes that they wouldn’t necessarily get in the classroom,” said interim director Eileen Wild.

The classes continue to be refined, dropping the less popular ones and adding others.

“We try to look into what kids are actively involved in, or what they want to be involved in,” Wild said. “Media and things like that are kind of the hype for kids these days, they’re really into that. We try to give a mix because kids are into different things; not everybody’s a scientist and not everybody’s a mathematician.

That’s drawn a big crowd; around 200 students will participate in the Primary Scholars Program (for first through fourth grade students) and the Academy of Excellence (for fifth through eighth graders).

In fact, spots for this year’s edition are practically full, just two weeks after registration began. But, students that have been selected by their schools to participate can still get more information at OUS.

Who knows? If Wild is any indication, though they may be registering for the academy now, in a few years they could be heading it up.