(Butler, PA) Said a 7-year-old boy in July to his robotics teacher after a Butler County Community College summer enrichment camp: “If I could relive two weeks of my life, the first would be the week I went to Disney and the second would be my week at Kids on Campus.”
BC3’s Kids on Campus program begins its 23rd summer in 2022. The college will offer 58 in-person camps on its main campus and for the second year in a row, virtual camps through a New Jersey company that provides technology-driven programs in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and digital arts.
In-person camps will be held Mondays through Thursdays from June 13 to July 28. In-person camps for kindergarteners and first-graders will be held from 9 a.m. to noon or from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. In-person camps for second-graders through eighth-graders will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
In-person camps include activities in art, cooking, engineering, do-it-yourself, robotics, self-improvement and sports. The half-day camps for kindergarteners and first-graders cost $86 per week. The full-day camps for second-graders through eighth-graders cost $172 per week.
Virtual camps through Black Rocket will be held Mondays through Fridays from June 6 to Aug. 26. Virtual camps are for those ages 8 to 14 and will be held in three-hour sessions in the mornings or in the afternoons. Camps start at $135.
“Even though we have the favorites returning every year, the lesson plans are always new. New teachers with fresh ideas come in to put a new spin on the course.”
Eva Lowerre, BC3 Kids on Campus coordinator
Children who attend one of BC3’s new camps in 2022 can learn yoga and meditation skills, how to create healthy smoothies and snacks, and how to keep a journal, Eva Lowerre, coordinator of BC3’s Kids on Campus program since 2009, said of Yoga and Chill.
Among returning favorites of children who attended Kids on Campus in 2021 are Game On and Summer Art Studio, Lowerre said. Game On offers dodgeball, capture the flag, minute-to-win-it challenges, water wars, obstacle courses and board games. Children in Summer Art Studio draw and paint, and walk with a sketchbook to capture moments of inspiration.
“The camps have been running for 22 years, and as long as they have been around the returning favorites make a comeback,” Lowerre said. “Kids on Campus focuses on a child’s interest and builds upon that. It is similar to going to a favorite restaurant and ordering the same meal every time. It is something you know will be great every time.
“Even though we have the favorites returning every year, the lesson plans are always new. New teachers with fresh ideas come in to put a new spin on the course.”
Black Rocket camps include JavaScript Developer Jam, Make Your First Video Game and YouTube Content Creators.
Children in JavaScript Developer Jam learn an array of core programming concepts by experimenting in a series of digital challenges; those in Make Your First Video Game, to design a 2D platformer game; and those in YouTube Content Creators, the do’s and don’ts of the platform and how to practice good digital citizenship.
Among returning favorites of children who attended Kids on Campus in 2021 is also Robotics Jr., the week of camp the 7-year-old boy in July said he wanted to relive.
“There was always a measure of guilt for me when I needed to work in the summer causing my own children to spend their summer in childcare or with babysitters,” Lowerre said. “Once I started with Kids on Campus, I wanted to create a summer camp where students would get to have an awesome summer even when their parents need to work, as well as a place for parents to drop their child off with the peace of mind that their child would be well cared for and have a great day.
“For this student to put KOC second only to Disney,” Lowerre said, “I knew my staff and I had created something pretty special for children.”
Before care and aftercare are available. Parents or guardians can review camps and register children at bc3.edu/koc.