Are your kids ready to stretch their talents and have fun this summer? Central High School is rolling out its first-ever STEAM summer day camp, sponsored by the Central High Education Foundation. Participating students will have fun and challenging activities in each of the STEAM areas: science, technology, engineering, arts and math.
Assistant principal Debbie Sayers said similar programs have been successful at schools in West Knox County, so principal Mike Reynolds decided to bring a STEAM camp to North Knox.
“Parents spend all sorts of money during the summer to promote athletics with their kids, so an academic summer camp fosters the same thing, just in a different area, exercising and stretching and broadening the mind,” Sayers said. “It’s just a way of getting kids excited about the STEAM subject areas when they’re young, showing them all of the really neat, cool, exciting stuff about those disciplines that they don’t get to see in their classrooms, so when they get to high school they’re excited.”
Central High teachers are volunteering to create and teach the cross-curricular camp activities, and teachers from throughout the CHS feeder pattern are invited to participate as well. High school students are also invited to earn community service hours as camp counselors and teaching assistants.
“It’s this community effort to present something that’s highly engaging to younger kids. I think that’s something that’s really neat,” Sayers said.
But what activities will the camp offer? Sayers said that’s still in development, but she guarantees that the campers will have fun. Microscopes, tessellations, skits, songs, graphing calculators, scientific animations, building projects, it’s all on the table.
“It works because of the teachers who do the planning, who plan the lessons, and because of the teachers and the students who do the volunteering. That’s what makes it really special. I’m anxiously anticipating the lessons that the teachers are going to put together,” said Sayers.
The camp runs 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., June 18-22, at Central High School, and is open to rising 4th through 7th graders. Cost is $125 per child. For more information, see the online camp brochure here or call the CHS office at 865-689-0828.