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Printer-Friendly ModeSummer camps: above the grade
June 20, 2011 —
Saginaw Valley might look more like munchkin land than a college campus for the next month as a variety of academic and athletic departments sponsor summer camps for elementary, middle and high school students.
The athletic department is offering clinics for six different sports, allowing area high school students the chance to compete against athletes from other schools that they would normally play.
For those wishing to pursue the fine arts, there are several camps in June and July.
Tracy Thiel, student coordinator for the Cardinals’ Creativity Camp, describes her camp as “a place for creative writers to come and write and meet other creative writers who are just as excited about writing as they are.”
Participants in the camp will have opportunities to explore buildings around campus, including the Marshall M. Fredricks Sculpture Museum, in search of inspiration.
The creative writing camp participants are not the only group of young learners in the Fredricks museum this summer. The museum is sponsoring its annual art camps where students can come and express their creativity through drawing and painting.
Not far from the museum, other youngsters will learn the ins and outs of stage performance from the SVSU faculty and students at the fine arts/ youth theatre camp.
Two camps are offered by the SVSU Regional Math and Science Center: The Science and Mathematics Extravaganza for Kids (SMEK) and the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) camp. Both provide young students the opportunity to do what their favorite TV characters do: play with robots, investigate crime scenes, build a rocket and work with chemicals, all while learning math and science skills.
Tamara Barrientos, the director of the Center, says that the camps “offer an enrichment experience so that even students who may not like math and science can still have a great time.”
Another camp offered is offered by the Literacy Center, the Summer Literacy Clinics. There are 12 sessions spread throughout the summer that offer students the opportunity to increase their proficiency in reading, writing and math. These clinics let students achieve and improve through working in small groups with a tutor.
According to Kristin Corneilius, assistant director of the SVSU Literacy Center, the camp appeals to a wide range of students.
“We work with students who are struggling, on grade level, or advanced,” Corneilius said. “On average, our students who attend the reading clinic make about a half a year to a full year’s reading gain during the 12 sessions. Our math and writing students also see significant gains.”
For more information on volunteering for a summer camp, visit the SVSU website.