Zachary Coleman, a student at Lehighton Area High School, will participate in the 2011 U.S. Naval Academy Summer Seminar program.

The U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) invited a select group of approximately 2,250 young men and women from around the nation and internationally to attend the Naval Academy Summer Seminar program this year. Summer Seminar is a fast-paced experience for high achievers who have completed their junior year in high school and are considering applying for admission to USNA after graduation.Summer Seminar teaches prospective applicants about life at the Naval Academy, where academics, athletics and professional training play equally important role in developing our nation's leaders. Each student will attend a six-day session and experience a part of USNA life. Students in the program live in Bancroft Hall, eat in the dining hall, participate in academic and leadership workshops and participate in daily physical training involving group runs and conditioning exercises. They will have an opportunity to see first-hand what the Naval Academy has to offer through its exceptional academic, athletic, extracurricular activities and leadership training programs.Summer Seminar has an academic focus, with each student attending eight 90-minute workshops, covering subjects from information technology, naval architecture and mechanical engineering, to oceanography, mathematics, history and meteorology. Students will also participate in seamanship and navigation classes and will take an actual cruise aboard a Navy Yard Patrol (YP) Craft to apply what they will learn in class. Naval Academy students (midshipmen) run Summer Seminar with oversight by active-duty Navy and Marine Corps officers.Founded in 1845, the Naval Academy is a highly competitive four-year undergraduate institution that prepares young men and women morally, mentally and physically to become officers in the Navy or Marine Corps. Upon graduation, Naval Academy midshipmen receive a bachelor of science degree in one of 22 majors and a commission as ensigns in the U.S. Navy or second lieutenants in the U.S. Marine Corps. In return, these young officers will serve at least five years of service to the nation.