June 18, 2009

Media Advisory -- June 20-July 3 Summer Camps

Reporters, photographers and news crews looking for great summer stories can find plenty of possibilities at Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s youth and adult camps, coordinated by the Division of Continuing Education.

The camp schedule for June 20 through July 3, including a brief description, good times to capture captivating stories and contact information for each camp, includes:

• Challenge to Excellence, June 21-26, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. daily, in the law school auditorium. This is the camp’s 26th year for academically talented youths. Students in eighth through 10th grades will participate in various experiences and activities challenging them to enhance their creativity and problem-solving skills. They will be rehearsing a play during the week with the performance set for 6 p.m. June 25. For more information contact John McIntyre at 618/453-2415.

• Engineering Day Camp, June 22-24. Participants will enjoy engineering demonstrations and conversations and participating in hands-on experiments. Contact John Nicklow at 618/453-4321 for details about good story and photo options.

• Kid Architecture, June 22-26. This award-winning camp gives youngsters a fun introduction to the built environment as they learn through discussions and hands-on projects. Participants will create mosaic stepping stones at 10 a.m. Tuesday, June 23, in the parking lot at the corner of Mill and Washington streets. The rain date is June 24. For more information contact Jon Davey at 618/559-8931 or via e-mail at jdavey@siu.edu.

• Saluki Swim Camp, June 22-26. Campers ages 8-12 will improve their swimming and diving skills in the camp, which emphasizes having fun with water sports and games. Participants will enjoy water fun day with paddleboats, canoeing and more at the campus lake boat dock about noon June 24. For more information contact Rick Walter at rwalker@athletics.siu.edu.

• Eighth Annual Teachers for Lifelong Learning (TALL) Conference, June 22-26. This workshop features presenters of various backgrounds illustrating how to incorporate cultural diversity, intervention response, technology and more into the curriculum. Participants will make presentations 9-10:30 a.m. on June 26 in Wham Education Building Room 105. For more information, contact Jackie Cox at jackiecox@mchsi.com.

• Eco U summer nature day camps are weeklong camps meeting 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. daily. “Eco You!” is June 22-26 as children learn about planet earth and how to protect the planet and help keep it healthy. “Wonderful Water” is June 29-July 3 and participants will discover that there’s an entirely new and different world living underwater. Children who will be in grades one-six this fall will enhance their knowledge about the environment and nature through fun, hands-on activities. It all takes place at the Touch of Nature Environmental Center, located about 7.5 miles south of Carbondale on Giant City Road. For more information or to set up media coverage, call 618/453-1122, extension 250 or e-mail kateh4@siu.edu.

• “The Nature of Our Planet, Our Collective Home,” June 22-25. Open to students entering sixth through eighth grades this fall; this is an all-new camp running 8:30-11:45 a.m. daily with a focus on planet Earth. There are themes each day and activities include fossil hunting, replicating ancient environments, classifying life forms, evolution games, habitat instruction, recycling and building compost bins and much more. For more information or media scheduling, contact Kate Hellgren at 618/453-1122, ext. 250 or by e-mailing kateh4@siu.edu.

• Tennis Academy, 10 a.m.-noon, June 22-26 at the tennis courts. Students in grades seven through 12 will enhance their tennis skills. For details contact Dan Nelson at 618/453-7247.

• 11th Annual Young Writers Workshop, June 23-27. This program gives high school sophomores through seniors the chance to explore and develop their writing talents. Media are welcome to come to Pulliam Hall Room 0034 at 1:15 p.m. Saturday, June 27, as the young writers present their final readings for an audience including their parents. For more information contact Allison Joseph at 618/453-6813 or 618-453-6833 or via e-mail at aljoseph@siu.edu.

• Tennis Camp II, June 29-July 2. This camp offers a residential option for grades 7-12 and commuter option for grades 3-12. Media may stop by the tennis courts any day of the camp 1:40-2:40 p.m. For more information contact Audra Nothwehr at 618/453-5463.

• Beginning Robotics, June 29-July 2. Basic electronics, mechanical and control systems, programming and sensors and much more are covered in this hands-on robotics camp with participants creating their own “Boe Bot” robots. Camp participants will demonstrate the robots they built during the camp at 10:30 am. Thursday, July 2, in Room 204A of the College of Applied Sciences and Arts (in Building C of the engineering complex). For more information contact Martin Hebel at 618/453-8806 or via e-mail at mhebel@siu.edu.

• Camp Little Giant features three sessions of its therapeutic creation camp for adults with disabilities during this time period. This therapeutic recreation camp is all about providing an authentic summer camp experience for those with disabilities. It’s actually the country’s first university-affiliated residential camping program for those with disabilities. The camp is located at the Touch of Nature Environmental Center. Camp Traditions I for adults 21 and older with physical or developmental disabilities is June 21-26 while Camp Traditions II for the same population is June 21-July 3. Camp Traditions III is June 28-July 3, also for adults age 21 or older with physical or developmental disabilities. To set up a media visit, contact Vicki Lang-Mendenhall at 618/453-1122, ext. 231.

You can find more information about all of the 2009 summer camps on the SIUC Web site at https://www.dce.siu.edu or by contacting the Division of Continuing Education at 618/536-7751.