With an eye on the future, students at Lycoming College for Kids and Teens are learning the value of repurposing this summer, transforming ordinary items and cast-off objects into imaginative projects and products.
Each year, the popular youth education program adopts a new theme and logo that teachers incorporate into their engaging classes. This year, College for Kids’ (CFK) theme is “Remix, Recreate, Repurpose,” where students can sew worn denim into bags and build skyscrapers out of cardboard tissue rolls. Many teachers are also returning with popular classes.
“Remixed and Repurposed” classes include Wilderness Survival, an exciting class that teaches youth how to survive — and even thrive — in real-life scenarios. Instructor Tracey Tillet returns to lead students in fun outdoor survival skills and hands-on exercises including orienteering with compasses, shelter building, wilderness medicine, outdoor cooking and campfires, and gathering edible foods in the wild.
Jasmine Silver, a CFK student who has grown up in the program, returning year after year as a participant, an assistant and now a teacher, has repurposed the popular “Be a Detective” class. Silver, a Criminal Justice major, brings an insider’s perspective to the program, as well as cutting-edge ideas about how to catch crooks.
More than a dozen informational and entertaining classes, including PADI Discover Scuba, Global Art, Magical Wings, Fantasy Storytellers (they’re always remixing ideas!), Mobile Journalists and Picture This, still have openings. Lycoming College for Kids and Teens’ one-week workshops will be held July 17 to 21 at the historic, Williamsport campus.
The scientific, cultural, artistic and magical workshops are taught by dedicated and enthusiastic teachers, and are designed to enhance creativity and problem solving.
CFK has expanded its offerings to students who are entering grades 2-12, and it welcomes students to return to its summer program, year after year, until they’re ready to enroll in Lycoming College as an undergraduate.
In fact, Crystal Vance, a recent Lycoming College graduate, decided to attend Lycoming after taking classes with College for Kids. Vance will be coming full circle this summer when she joins the CFK staff.
There’s a reason why students return to the program each summer with anticipation — they know they’re going to have a great time, and they’re ensured a spot someday as CFK junior assistants, teaching assistants and even teachers.
While at College for Kids, students can participate in a morning and an afternoon workshop, which gives them the opportunity to explore two topics of their choice.
Each year amazing new classes are added to the lineup, and this year is no exception. Last year Scuba and Snorkeling debuted, and this year’s horizons are expanded to include Comic Book and Character Art class where students will learn to bring their greatest fantasies and ideas to visual life. Whether drawing superheroes, princesses, or characters from favorite video games, this class will teach the basics of how to draw what students imagine.
Denim Do-Overs is a new class that teaches students how to recycle a favorite pair of jeans with a few snips and some stitch witchery to create useful accessories, like a purse or tool apron, and home décor items.
Great news for creative writers — Fantasy Storytellers has returned. Or, budding reporters can participate in the Mobile Journalists class where they will write stories and take photos and videos about the summer program and then publish them on the College for Kids and Teens website.
If your child enjoys arts and crafts that preserve photographic memories, we’ve added Picture This, a creative class that offers myriad activities that go beyond scrapbooking. Black and White Photography, teaches students the art of photography using traditional cameras. Students learn how to develop their own photographs in the darkroom and hold an art show at the end of the week.
Science-based classes abound including Global Arts, Junior Rangers, Young Inventors, Young Engineers, Magical Wings and the ever-popular Grossology. Structure It teaches students about simple machines using mechanized Legos, and Super Science students create crystals and volcanoes in their workshops. The Aeronautical Engineering workshop, a favorite for the middle and high school students, allows participants to make and launch their own rockets.
For older and returning CFK students, we offer an advanced class for Aeronautical Engineers, and Darkroom Techniques for Photographers.
The morning workshop is held from 9 a.m. to noon and the afternoon workshop from 1 to 4 p.m. Extended care is offered free for parents who need to drop off and pick up children between 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Children may purchase lunch in the college cafeteria for the full week or bring their own for a supervised lunch break.
Discounts are offered for each additional family member. Cost for full-day, week-long workshop is $250 for the first child in family, and $200 for each additional child. The cost for half-day is $150 each child. (Some classes require an additional fee for unique supplies.)
Classes are on a first-come, first-served basis and registrations are secured with payment only. Checks and credit cards are accepted for all fees. Parents may enroll their children online.
Enrollment is limited; placement is based on the order in which the applications are received, so register early.
For a complete list of classes and descriptions, and for further information on the program and application, visit the College for Kids classes webpage at collegeforkids.org.