Children Explore Interests at CSM Summer Camps

Early Exposure to Science, Arts, Literature Guides Academic Goals

Oh, the magic of summer vacation—when memories are just waiting to happen. With seven weeks of camps for children ages 5 to 17, the Kids’ and Teen College at College of Southern Maryland campuses in Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties, children have a great place for building their summer memories.

Unlike the classrooms that students are used to during the school year, CSM’s Kids’ and Teen College camps allow children to explore areas of interest for an extended period of time without having to move to a new subject.

“In stringent and structured classrooms, teachers don’t always have the luxury of offering topics that are outside of their curriculum and students don’t always have opportunities to linger on subjects that interest them. That’s why summer vacation is so important,” said CSM Youth Program Coordinator John Terlesky. “We try to design our summer programs so that there will be something for everyone. Whether the student is interested in sports, science, theater or art the subjects can be explored at the student’s pace.”

Little Kids’ College camps offer programs for children ages 5 and 6 with morning and afternoon sessions. Camps include “Art Explorers,” “Exploring Nature,” “Little Detectives,” “Mother Goose on the Loose” and “Slimy Science.”

Kids’ College camps for children ages 7 through 10 include “Cartoon Art,” “Kids in the Kitchen,” “Superhero Camp” and several LEGO robotics camps as well as camps for actors, scientists and explorers.

“Lightz Camera Action” takes students through the dynamics of storytelling, acting, shooting, editing, graphics and sound to create their own movie production.

Teen College camps include courses such as “Storm Trackers,” “FX-Science Behind Special Effects,” “Digital Fashion Design” and “Digital Photography.”

The growth in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) jobs in Southern Maryland  has led Kids’ and Teen College coordinators to build camps for children who want to explore STEM fields. STEM Kids’ and Teen College courses include “Bridge Design and Construction,” “Electronics for Kids,” “LEGO Games,” “Mixin’ it Up—Chemical Engineering,” “Physics” and more. “Space Flight Institute: Mission to Space” is a full-day, week-long camp for children 8 to 10 years old where they will learn about the history of space flight while participating in hands-on activities—using remote-controlled rovers to explore the surface of Mars, building and launching a balloon craft. For 2013, computer programming camps include 3D programming, video gaming, computer illustration and web page design.

The half-day “Safe Sitter” courses for ages 11 to 14 teach safe and nurturing childcare techniques, behavior management skills and appropriate responses to medical or other emergencies and give students the confidence to take on babysitting jobs.

A popular track in the summer programming is cooking and with the new portable kitchens outfitted with working ovens, burners and sinks, campers can develop new culinary skills in “Cooking for Teens.”

Budding actors and performers can hone their craft in “Glee Camp,” “Acting for Teens,” Circus Camp” or “Comedy Theater: Be a Clown.”

All-day sports camps at the La Plata Campus include basketball, girls softball and soccer. “Summer Youth Camp,” for boys and girls ages 7 through 12, allow children to spend the day playing softball, baseball, kickball, touch football and volleyball as well as enjoy two hours of swimming daily.

Registration is open. Camps run in half-day or full-day sessions from June 17 through Aug. 9, excluding the week of July 4. Extended care, “Warm-Up” and “Cool-Down” at the La Plata and Leonardtown campuses, is available. Warm-up is from 7 to 8:30 a.m. and cool-down is from 4:30 to 6 p.m.

To view a student testimonial, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4w6aTod0WM