Expanded partnerships encourage record registration during first month of summer
By the middle of May 2019 summer camp registrations for CMU/WCCC eclipsed the previous year total for the entire summer and while registration is still open, camps are filling quickly. The increase in camp enrollment builds on momentum celebrated by WCCC from recent grants and partnerships that marked 2019 as a year of growth and expansion.
“Those who assume WCCC slows during summer months are mistaken considering WCCC offers more than 100 summer camp courses taught by more than 40 highly qualified instructors," said the WCCC Director of Community Education Kurtis Armstrong. “The robust 2019 offerings at WCCC both in Grand Junction and Montrose make the CMU network of summer camps the most diverse and comprehensive summertime educational opportunities for kids in western Colorado."
The Eureka! McConnell Science Museum has partnered with CMU and WCCC for summer camps for a combined effort to market, promote and enhance summer camp curriculums for all campuses.
“People sometimes consider the partnership between Eureka! and CMU simply about the shared physical space,” said Eureka! Executive Director Jenn Moore. “The partnership extends well beyond the buildings and institutions to provide more offerings and is on full display when the community experiences summer camps offered by Eureka!, WCCC and CMU. We are proud be a part of this warm weather partnership."
Arts, engineering, agriculture, culinary, and aviation are some of the categories representing the large selection of options at the summer camps. Camps that stand out for WCCC Vice President of Community College Affairs Brigitte Sundermann is the "internet of thing", lego robotics and arduinos coding camps offered at WCCC.
“We try to thoughtfully integrate camps with certificates and programs offered at WCCC. Students who might acquire a summertime passion for a topic through camp may return later in life for more training and coursework. Kids in the internet of things camp or the logo robotics and/or arduinos coding camps will learn about the same types of technologies and processes as those found in our new ANB Bank Mechatronics Mobile Learning Lab that will be available through WCCC in the coming years.”
Scholarships and financial assistance are available for some students in addition to the camps-to-college program where students who sign up for a number of summer camp can work towards a scholarship to attend WCCC or CMU later in their educational journeys.
Armstrong facilitates the summer camp program and is excited about the tremendous registrations received to date.
“When parents see the line-up and notice lego robotics they may see the camp simply as a chance for their child to express their creativity through legos. However, we see courses like this as possibly serving as a gateway to a future career in engineering. In this way students can begin making their mark on the future world by enjoying their summer camp learnings today.”
CMU President Tim Foster attributes some of the ongoing summer camp enrollment success to another CMU/WCCC partnership called Reach your Peak Colorado. The consortium is funded by El Pomar and includes joint efforts between the colleges and universities of northwestern Colorado who all share a motivation of using summer camps to orient a child’s educational future.
“Reach your Peak is an example of how the El Pomar Foundation, community colleges and universities can join forces creating constructive learning opportunities that also lay groundwork for the future education of children in the community,” said Foster. “Like many programs at CMU, this partnership focuses on first generation, minorities and students from single parent households and other populations, who, for a variety of reasons, have a higher chance of not believing college is an option for them.”
A complete camp listing is available here or by contacting WCCC at 970.255.2800.
Visit Eureka to register for CMU/WCCC summer camp partner sessions.
