Summer Camps Offer Douglas Students Fun, Enrichment, Adventure

DOUGLAS COUNTY, GA — Adventurous Douglas County students put their talent and imagination to use this summer in a series of camps created by the 21st Century Community Learning Center, or CCLC, grant.

Through fun, hands-on activities and field trips, participants learned a lot and kept summer slide at bay. Summer slide is the tendency during the summer to lose some of the academic achievement gains made during the previous school year.

According to Mitzi Teal, Communities in Schools executive director and 21st CCLC grant administrator, the summer programs focused on academic support and enrichment. “The CCLC Grant provides a broad array of experiences for our students that help them learn and develop lifelong skill sets. Each camp offered had academic goals, objectives, and standards.”

Teal said participants loved the camps, especially the field trips. “The students had so much fun at the camps that they didn’t realize how much they were learning.”

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High school field trips included visits to several colleges, Tellus Science Museum, and the King Center. Trips for younger campers included Zoo Atlanta, Georgia Aquarium, Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History, Pine Mountain Gold Museum, and World of Coca-Cola.

During the life skills segment of camp at Factory Shoals Elementary School, students talked about ways to prevent bullying and how to stand up to it safely if it should occur. As part of the life skills activity, they painted rocks with inspirational messages and added them to the school’s Angel Garden.

Students participating in the Robotics Explorer Camp at North Douglas Elementary School learned about structural and mechanical designs and computer programming. The students then put these skills into practice by building and coding their own LEGO mechanical robots!

Twenty teacher-led camps were available this summer including 12 for elementary students, six for middle school students, and two for high school students. The CCLC Grant funds a lot more than summer camps. It provides year-round academic support for students identified by teachers and funds tuition for After School Programs.

If you know a student who may benefit by participating in a 21st CCLC grant program, check the school’s website to see if it is a 21st CCLC school.

Photo courtesy Douglas County School System