This report details findings of one year of a seven-year study of the relationship between pre-college enrichment experiences and the development of academic ethos, or scholar identity, in disadvantaged adolescents, both African American and European American. Under the auspices of the University of Tennessee, Project EXCEL examines the development of scholar identity in center city, college-bound sophomores as they participate in a university-sponsored enrichment program of reading, writing, and French or German foreign language study. Students are self-selected for application to the program and represent individuals who possess the potential for completing college level work, but who do not have the academic background. Each student participates for three years and receives a one-year follow-up, whether or not they attend college. The project's academic program builds student self-confidence and images of selves as individual scholars. This report presents findings from one facet of the Project EXCEL study, the ethnographic examination of the process of identity construction in EXCEL and non-EXCEL student participants in the tenth grade honors English course at Augustana High School. Findings suggest that emphasis on scholastic preparation without equal attention to a strong sense of academic identity ignores a significant factor in the student's preparation for college. This study's participant observations suggest the establishment of a community of respect that facilitates respect for self and others, supports the expression of individual opinions, and, through that process, results in the construction of identities. Actual student participant comments are included. (Contains 33 references.) (NAV)