Registration is now open for Craven Community College’s (Craven CC) 2023 summer camps. The college is offering five camps on the New Bern Campus with a variety of activities for different age groups, as well as two engineering camps for different age groups on the Havelock campus.
The week-long, non-residential engineering camps, offered in partnership with the Eastern Carolina Aviation Heritage Foundation, will be offered for middle school and high school students on the Havelock campus. The camps will be led by local STEM teachers in conjunction with engineers from Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) and NC State University. Limited scholarships may be available for students with demonstrated financial need. Camps will be held July 10-14 for high schoolers and July 17-21 for middle schoolers, with both running from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“The theme of our 2023 summer engineering camps is Survivor,” said Tanya McGhee, Havelock Campus Dean. “Students will work collaboratively to overcome the obstacles of castaway life with the help of the engineering design process, FRCE engineers, and Craven Community College mentors. In the end, we shall see who has what it takes to ‘outcreate, outbuild, and outlaugh.’”
The college's New Bern campus will host Full STEAM Ahead, engaging rising 6th through 8th graders in fun activities that utilize the components of science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM). Campers will explore solar painting, creating soap-powered boats, designing and building a space lander, making ice cream, shooting Alka-Seltzer rockets, experiencing virtual reality, and much more. They will also be guided to ask thoughtful questions, answer questions, apply what they learn, and problem solve creatively. It will be held July 10-14 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
There will also be Full STEAM Ahead Junior for rising 3rd through 5th graders. Campers will explore comparable activities, as well as making colorful slime, gummy worms, and tie-dying T-shirts. This camp will take place July 17-21 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Two ceramics camps will let campers get hands-on experience while creating fun pieces to take home for lasting memories. Creative Hands will allow rising 3rd through 5th graders to make fun, creative creatures and other ceramic pieces. Pieces will come to life as young potters learn to glaze and fire their work. This camp will be held July 17-21 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Glazed and Amazed will show rising 6th through 8th graders how to make bowls and other ceramic pieces. Potters will also learn to glaze and fire their work. It will be held July 31-August 4 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
“The campers will be exploring several techniques in pottery making,” said Sara Jones, Craven CC Science Lab Coordinator and ceramics camp instructor. “We will be making our own clay creations, then decorating, glazing, and firing them.”
Since the pottery from both ceramics camps will not be ready in time to take home at the end of camp, parents and campers are invited to attend a Student Art Show on Thursday, August 10 from 5 to 6 p.m.
Additionally, the New Bern campus will host Junior Mad Scientist, in which rising 3rd through 5th graders will have fun becoming scientists while learning about physics of music, how to operate a rubber band cannon, crystal formation, gravity, engines, and more. They will also enjoy activities involving paper airplanes, slime and polymers, gross-ology, and magnets. It will be held July 31-August 4 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Regardless of the chosen camp, the end goal is to engage campers with hands-on activities in an environment that nurtures learning and creativity.
“We want the campers to have fun while learning something new, whether that’s how to make a coil pot or how the crosslinking of chemicals can turn two liquids into slime,” added Jones.
The registration deadline for the Havelock engineering camps is Monday, April 3, and the registration deadline for all New Bern camps is Wednesday, June 7.
For additional camp information and registration forms, visit CravenCC.edu/SummerCamps. Anyone interested in the Havelock Engineering Camp must fill out an online application.