EXCEL is a summer academic enrichment program held at Sonoma State University providing experiences in science, art, engineering, mathematics, and technology for fourth- through ninth-grade students. Each summer the ASC offers a one-week archaeology course guiding archaeologists-in-training through the process of collecting and analyzing archaeological materials. The students are led by an ASC staff member in a pedestrian survey of SSU's archaeological demonstration site. They collect artifacts such as bottles, ceramic tablewares, projectile points, and faunal remains from the site, clean the items, and then identify them using the same references and resources employed by ASC archaeologists. Working as a team, the students identify the function and manufacture date of the artifacts, and practice using this data to interpret the site. The course culminates with an open-house exhibition where students present their interpretations to family members. 

The students' questions and interests shape the course into an experience in which they hone their research and critical thinking skills, supporting their claims with physical evidence and data.