Why are NIU STEAM summer camps great?
By Jess Winn, NIU STEAM Educator
In this episode of Winning Ideas, why should you send your kiddo to NIU Summer camps?
I’m going to respond to that question with another question! Think back to your childhood… What are some of the best parts of summer camps? Building friendships, learning new skills, maybe even exploring a place you haven’t been. What if your camp experience also included learning from industry professionals and taking exploratory field trips that engage your mind in ways you hadn’t imagined? What if you were allowed, encouraged even, to make mistakes as you embarked on your learning journey?
Are you sold yet? If not, let me throw yet another excellent reason to attend a summer camp at NIU. NIU summer camps offer students opportunities to inspire true local change in their communities.
While there are numerous summer camp options for families, we believe NIU summer camps are a cut above the rest. From school camps to the gym-based camps, sports camps, or even horseback riding camps, it feels like the options are endless. Selecting a camp that encourages your student to grow and fit in while still challenging them and preparing them for the future in a fun way feels a little overwhelming. With NIU STEAM summer camps students are challenged to think independently and explore ideas and problems that they might not see in a traditional classroom, while still building relationships and having all the fun a summer camp typically provides. We have options and opportunities for students to learn and engage in a plethora of options.
Our high school camps are all residential. Students spend a week with us learning from college professors in the morning and completing community service projects in the afternoons. When students show up in the morning they are met with the latest technologies and tools. They will engage with what it means to be a college student, going to short lectures that include hands on activities. In the afternoons, they are guided through service projects that align with college degrees and focus on community resilience as well as growth and civic engagement. In the evenings students experience adventures like exploring forest preserves, playing in the rec center, and challenging each other at NIU’s state of the art Esports Arena. They round out their experience by staying in the dorms, eating in the dining hall, and developing bonds with fellow students who may one day be their peers on campus.
If you know a young person with a disability of any kind who will graduate high school in 2025, let them know about our unique Huskies BELONG camp! Led by NIU Associate Professor of Rehabilitation Counseling Bryan Dallas, Huskies BELONG helps college-bound students with disabilities learn to navigate a college campus, make connections with other college students with disabilities, and learn about the variety of college majors available.
For middle school students we offer two options. One is a traditional sleep away camp at NIU’s Lorado Taft Campus, nestled comfortably along the rock river. Students will hike, learn archery and hang out around the campfire for part of the time and engage in STEAM concepts (like shelter building, invasive plant identification and removal, fire building, and water filtration) for the other half. Students will stay in bunk houses and dine on some of the best cinnamon rolls in the Midwest.
For those younger students who want to stay a little closer to home, NIU offers middle school day camps, as well as elementary day camps. These engaging classes focus on robots, programming, storytelling, and more. Students are on campus for the day, learning from the best STEAM educators around through hands-on, engaging experiences. These young people will walk the campus as pre-college students, get comfortable with the idea of preparing for college, and be set up for success as they grow through our programming.
All of our camps are led by highly qualified STEAM educators. They are trained to help guide young people through the challenges of non-traditional learning. They work diligently to create new and innovative lessons and projects that not only challenge students, but also inspire creativity and curiosity. We are ready to invite you to our summer camps! Come join the fun and learn something new at an NIU Summer Camp!
Check out our camp website to see all the exciting options!
As always, don’t forget to share your projects with us! Tag #NIUSTEAM and @NIUSTEAM for a chance to be featured in our weekly newsletter. And as always, do good things, be good people, and make yourself better than the day before.
