April 2008
High-Tech Camps for High-Wired Kids
The greater Seattle area serves as a nexus for the high-tech industry and also, not surprisingly, for high-tech camps.
The past decade has brought a 33 percent increase in the number of American Camp Association camps offering computer or technology programs, according to Peg Smith, chief executive officer of the association.
Camp is about fun, and not every kid finds kicking a ball stimulating. “On the last day of camp, one camper got his robot to solve the maze we built,” recalls Marc Irwin, a Cybercamps counselor. “The standing ovation was life changing – the type usually reserved for athletics. It was nice to see that kind of appreciation for intellectual achievement.”
Computers and programming can be heady stuff. When is a child ready for this type of camp, considering the need for reading skills and other basic levels of understanding?
Several camps offer modified programs for children as young as 6 or 7. The introduction of complex concepts begins with 11-year-olds. According to representatives from each of the tech camps listed below, middle-schoolers represent the largest group of campers.
Regardless of age, you may have concerns about sending your kid off to the great indoors during the summer. However, most tech camps incorporate breaks and physical activities throughout the day. ID Tech Camps provide screen breaks, called “Tech-Reation,” for activities such as Frisbee and soccer. “Techtivities” for video gamers challenge the heart-rate, with games such as “Guitar Hero” and “Dance-Dance-Revolution.”
Though it would appear that the “boys with toys”
stereotype plays out prominently in high-tech camps, Digipen Institute
of Technology’s senior vice president, Raymond Yan, estimates that
30 percent of their summer campers are girls. However, Yan also says that
that number drops to less than 10 percent at the college level. “There’s
no reason why girls can’t get into this industry, and we really
need them,” says Yan.
The tech camps included in this article are all local and offer day programs.
Some of these camps provide room and board options for children coming
from out-of-state.
In all cases, registration is open for the 2008 summer camp season. Popular
programs fill-up quickly, but at the time this story was written, all
camps still had openings in most programs.
Giant Campus Cybercamps and Cybercamps Academy
University of Washington graduate Pete Findley began his summer program, Cybercamps, in 1997. The flagship location was the UW campus. One hundred and twenty-five campers signed up the first year. Last year, more than 10,000 kids participated in the summer program at college campuses nationwide.
“You’re not just buying camp, you’re buying an educational experience,” says David Kinard, marketing director for Giant Campus, the expanded umbrella organization that evolved from Cybercamps. Now, this multidimensional company, headquartered in Seattle, offers high-tech education to all ages through collaborative programs that include school districts, corporations and the military. This summer more than 5,000 kids in New Orleans will receive a free educational experience through a collectiveeffort that includes Giant Campus.
Dr. Michelle O’Brien-Palmer based her doctoral dissertation on Cybercamps Academy’s tech camp curriculum. She found that the average camper increased standardized test results by almost 17 percent.
For $879 a week, your 10- to 17-year-old Gamer, Coder or User can spend the full day at Cybercamps Academy. Kinard emphasizes that Cybercamps Academy guides students beyond keystrokes, to acquire life skills in critical thinking, teamwork and socialization. Summer courses include Gaming, Game Design and Modding (modifying hardware or software); Graphics, Web and Flash; and Programming and Robotics. Cybercamps Academy is held locally at Bellevue Community College and University of Washington campuses in Seattle and Bothell. Extended care and lunch may be purchased for an additional charge.
While Cybercamps Academy is designed for kids ages 10 to 17, an off-shoot, Cybercamps, caters to younger children. Cleverly partnered with Pump-It-Up of Lynnwood and Bellevue, Cybercamps invites 6- to 11-year-olds to spend a half day bouncing between technology and huge, energy-burning inflatables. Scuba Pete and the robots, Cyber and Bumper, teach concepts like files, networks, the Internet and keyboarding skills. One week of camp costs $449.
If you want to launch your child into cyber heaven, check out Livewire for 14- to 18-year-olds. This week-long travel experience offers an insider’s look at the technological bowels of Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. Thrills like touring the park before it is open and creating your own sound effects in Disney’s Ideas studio will make you want to go to camp with your child. Through programmed cell phones, campers are connected at all times as they enjoy access to every theme park every day.
For complete information, call 1-888-904-2267 or visit www.giantcampus.com
(click on Youth Programs at the top of the home page and check out the
great video on the camps programs) and www.cybercamps.com.
Digipen Project Fun Workshops
Digipen Institute of Technology is a private four-year college geared specifically to educating students for the digital interactive entertainment industry – also known as the video game industry. As a small 3D animation company founded in Vancouver, B.C., Digipen was unable to expand its business due to a lack of skilled workers in the field. Seizing an obvious opportunity, Digipen morphed into Digipen Institute of Technology and now shares a building in Redmond with Nintendo’s headquarters – just blocks from Microsoft.
Digipen works closely with these video game giants to be certain that its curriculum stays current with industry requirements. During the summer, campers participate in two-week full-day workshops designed to give them an idea of what it would be like to work in the video gaming industry and what they can expect from Digipen for continued education.
Using a proprietary software program named ProjectFUN, beginning students are able to start learning the game-making process from day one. Fifth- through seventh-graders can attend Junior Game Developer workshops where campers are introduced to the creative and technical processes that go into video game production. No experience is necessary, but typing skills are useful.
From eighth to 12th grade, campers can choose to study robotics, 3D animation or video game programming. A typical day in the first week of camp will include learning about new concepts and skills by building games, robots or animations. During the second week, campers conceptualize, design and produce their own games, robotic devices or animated programs.
This camp offers a few unique options. A carpool database helps parents with the camp commute. Also, free after-class activities are offered to extend the day for working parents and to allow students some interaction time away from the computer. There are discounts for siblings and repeat attendees. Camp runs $995 per workshop. Lunch is included.
For complete information, visit www.workshops.digipen.edu or call 1-866-478-5236. In conjunction with the Pacific Science Center, Digipen also offers video game programming camp for grades seven to nine. Find information on these camps at www.pacificsciencecenter.org. Click on camps/workshops in the left-hand column, and then select “Camps for Curious Minds 2008” from the paragraphs in the body of the page.
iD Tech Camps
UW graduates Alexa and Pete Ingram-Cauchi, a sister/brother team, founded iD Tech Camps 10 years ago. Headquartered in the Silicon Valley, iD Tech Camps operates summer programs on 50 university campuses nationwide, including the University of Washington, and a program abroad in Spain.
Vice President of Marketing Karen Thurm Safran explains that by teaching through hobbies, campers don’t realize that they are actually learning. Approximately half of iD Tech’s first-time campers enroll in the video game class. Through this class, she explains, kids learn to look at the games differently, from an analytical view.
From there campers can explore a multitude of other technological paths including courses in robotics, digital movies and Web surfing technology. Unique to iD Tech are the “Sports and Tech” and “Surf and Tech” programs. If you want to send your 14- to 17-year-old on the road for an adventure, these California-based residential camps combine a half-day of sports, such as golf, surfing or even Tae Kwan Do, with another half-day of tech learning.
Touting an impressive average class ratio of 5:1, iD Tech’s standard program offers week-long full day camps for kids 7 to 17 years old. Campers 7 to 10 can attend “Adventures in Game Design” or “Adventures in Comic Design.” Both classes give hands-on experience to young creative minds encouraging them to design their own on-screen masterpieces.
Move around the iD Tech Camps Web site (www.internaldrive.com) with ease to peruse all of the available classes and the age groups permitted in each. There’s something for nearly everyone to enjoy. Linked with a bundle of big tech companies such as Microsoft, Apple and Adobe, iD Tech Camps continues to upgrade their programs to keep pace with the industry.
All day-camp options run $749 per week with an option for lunch in the university dining hall for an added $50. Extended days are also available. The iD Tech Camps Web site mentions that a car-pooling database is currently under construction.
Museum of Flight ACE Camp
ACE Camp, an acronym for Aerospace Camp Experience, is held each summer at the Museum of Flight for grades one through nine with advanced ACE Apprentices classes for high-schoolers. While technically this program should fall under science camps, aeronautics relies heavily on technology to advance the science. Within a schedule packed with opportunities to learn about flight is a robotics course that brings the two concepts together.
Planetary Voyagers, kids in grades five to seven, can explore soft-core robotics in the Robotics 1 and 2 camps. Call 206-764-5720 or check out the Web site www.museumofflight.org for more information on all of the camps offered. Click on Education at the top far right and then “Aerospace Camp Experience” in the subheads at the top of the next page.
Gretchen Bear is a freelance writer in Seattle. The inspiration for this story came from her good friend’s son, Kier, an awesome fourth-grader who doesn’t quite fit the soccer camp profile and is eager to learn about tech camps.
| Camp Serves Children Affected by Family Drug or Alcohol Addiction There are lots of reasons why kids go to camp. Thanks to the work of Youth Eastside Services (Y.E.S.) and the Moyer Foundation, children who live with drug and/or alcohol abuse in the family now have an opportunity to go to camp to learn and share experiences on how to cope with this challenging life situation. Camp Mariposa is the brainchild of Karen Moyer, wife of former Mariner pitcher Jamie Moyer and co-founder of the Moyer Foundation, and Claudia Black, M.S.W., Ph.D., a leading expert in the area of drug and alcohol addiction. The Seattle-based Moyer Foundation was established in 2000 with the mission of supporting children in financial, emotional and physical distress. The first session of Camp Mariposa was held last August. “From a personal experience, we discovered a lack of services for children ages 9 to 12 affected by addiction in their families,” says Moyer. Kristie Neklason, clinical supervisor and substance abuse counselor for Y.E.S., explains that most funding for this area is geared towards educating children in general against drug use, rather than helping children from families affected by addiction. “Camp Mariposa allows kids to meet others just like them and gives them hope and tools not only for the opportunity to break the cycle, but to deal and cope with their difficult situation,” Moyer explains. The Moyer Foundation is underwriting 100 percent of
Camp Mariposa’s expenses through proceeds from the Foundation’s
Celebrity Golf Classic. This year’s event will be held on
July 6 and 7 at Tumble Creek at Suncadia, 80 miles east of Seattle. Campers arrive Friday afternoon and stay through Sunday evening. Traditional camp activities like skits, campfires and arts and crafts incorporate therapeutic and educational elements. Free time includes hikes, scavenger hunts and the popular ROPES Challenge Course which serves to help instill confidence and encourages trust and teamwork. Participants for Camp Mariposa mostly come from referrals from Y.E.S. programs, government agencies, nonprofit organizations and school counselors. However, any child in grades three to six struggling with an addicted family member is welcome to inquire about camp. Confidential inquiries may be directed to the intake office at Y.E.S. by calling 425-747-4937. For more information on the Moyer Foundation, the Celebrity Golf Classic and Camp Mariposa, visit www.moyerfoundation.org. – Gretchen Bear |
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