“They had a big word for math, so that might be kind of hard,” Lewis said.

After lunch at Annenberg each day, students will take an elective class led by the Harvard undergraduates who also serve as mentors in the program. Electives, which are designed by the mentors, last two weeks each.

Several mentors stressed their desire to expose students to new disciplines and to provide a break from academics.

Kosaka Yada ’07, a member of the men’s basketball team, said he will teach a ballet class.

“Ballet is utilized by a lot of athletes, but a lot of guys think ballet is a girly thing,” Yada said.

Yada added he will also teach a course on international sports, like fencing and cricket, to which children from low-income areas like the inner city might not have been previously exposed.

Adrian Ramirez—who said he would have been sleeping or playing sports had he not been admitted to Crimson Summer Academy—said he looked forward to improving his salsa dancing skills in a class taught by Rosmary Roca ’07.

“I already know a little, but I want to get better,” Ramirez said.

After electives, students take classes in speech and debate, writing and college and career guidance.

Donald E. Fraser, a guidance counselor at Brookline High School who will lead the college and career guidance seminar, said the 10th grade students would set goals for the coming year. He said he would help the students to develop strategies to achieve those goals.

Estes, who is also a Crimson editor, said the mentors will be paid to follow up with their students during the academic year.

“From the mentors’ point of view, the commitment runs very deep,” Estes said. “We’re always going to be on call to these kids.”

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays conclude with mentor meetings, in which mentors discuss how the day’s events relate to the theme of “students as citizens.”

The mentors said they were chosen in part because elements of their backgrounds were similar to those of their low-income students.

Yada said his school district in Newport, Ore., was so poor that school was cancelled on Fridays his senior year in high school. But he said teachers made a big impact on him by volunteering their Fridays to teach out of their own homes.