Grade-school-age children will be attending IVCC’s Camp Apache April 17 to 20 when their schools are on spring break.
While the camp provides a service to students and staff with school-age children, it’s also a learning experience for the IVCC students who are in charge. The day camp is being organized and will be offered by students enrolled in Social Science Internship (SSI 2000) or Integrated Business Operations (BUS 2260).
One of the instructors of the Social Science Internship, Jill Urban-Bollis, said "The course is designed to integrate active learning with practical application of classroom studies."
Alice Steljes, instructor of the business course, agreed with Bollis saying, "This has been a great opportunity for our students in the business areas to work with people out of their discipline. They have learned organizational skills and had the opportunity to practice many of the things they have been studying in their college program.
Based on the student’s area of interest, they have been working on committees including: Organization, Customer, and Advertising/Public Relations.
Tara Cornelius, who is on the Organization Committee, said the project has improved her organization and communication skills.
"Camp Apache has allowed me to use my creative ability, and I have come to realize that organizing and communicating is not as easy as I first thought."
Nicole Moline, who is on the Customer Committee, is looking forward to interacting with the children.
"We will be teaching children many different areas of learning, and we will be having fun with them."
Students enrolled in the Social Science Internship are developing lessons or activities for the children. Bollis said the activities would be developmentally appropriate for the ages of the children attending and would include arts and crafts, large muscle development and use of logic or manipulatives like math challenges and brain teasers.
Some faculty will also be providing activities, including chemistry with Margaret Suerth and Bob Byrne, Charlie the Owl with Lee Ann Johnson, careers with Valerie Calvetti and Alexa Doll, and geology with Mike Phillips.
"I am looking forward to a fun-filled week for the children, as well as offering the (IVCC) students an opportunity to make something happen," said early childhood education instructor Diane Christianson, who also works with the camp.
"My son attended this camp two years ago at the age of 9," Christianson said. "He still talks about some of the things he remembers the most."
The camp will meet in the upper gym from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Rates for the camp are $1.75 per hour for one child, $2.25 per hour for two children and $2.75 for three children. Snacks will be provided, but parents need to pack a lunch for any children that will be staying over the lunch hour.
First offered in 1997, the day camp project won a Connections 2000 Award for Innovative Curriculum Development from the State Board of Education that year. The camp is a Tech Prep-sponsored program.
Christianson said the camp was in jeopardy this year because of low enrollment in the internship. Tracing the enrollment problem to scheduling conflicts, Christianson said she and Bollis built in some flexibility and organized committees according to students’ schedules.