[5] The program's Director is Wanda Elliott, whose educational experience includes service as a high school math teacher and principal.
Students from participating counties normally apply as 8th graders, through a multi-faceted application process that includes testing, interviews, writing and review of past grade performance and accomplishments.
Students must maintain high grades and good disciplinary records at their local school or risk not being able to continue the program.
Sophomores take AP Biology and collaborate with Virginia Tech to study Arabidopsis thaliana under multiple experimental conditions.
[10] The program retains a focus on technology however, with students writing papers on Biotechnology and Bioethics subjects as an addition to the standard curriculum.