6.24.2009

Summer Camp II


Two short trips this week to check out Summer Camps at our technology centers.

The first trip was to Indian Capital Technology Center in Stilwell. ICTC was holding Medical Mysteries camp and the students were learning all about HIPPA. They finished up their lesson in time to go outside and watch the Air Evac team land and explore the insides of the helicopter. Two ambulances from Stilwell were on hand as well to discuss what the students needed to know about the EMT career path and answer questions about what was inside the vehicle. Today the the students would be on their way to the Muskogee Hospital to see how a hospital works.

This morning I had the opportunity to travel to the Enid Campus of Northern Oklahoma College and observe their CSI camp. The Northern Science Academy was made possible through a Regents grant and students had lessons in science and mathematics and explored career opportunities in criminal justice. Today we toured the old Garfield County Jail and spoke with a judge, bailiff and court reporter. Then the students were off to the science lab and were learning about scientific naming and the dichotomous key.

Now that many of our summer camps our over you should be in the process of reviewing and preparing notes for next year. Have you communicated with your summer camp attendees yet? Will you be sending them a letter at the beginning of schoo? Mayne you are sending a thank you note to their parents for letting them attend?

How are you bringing home the point that they can achieve their career goals through your technology center?

6.22.2009

Summer Camp


Summer Camp!!

I haven't got to post in awhile as I have been traveling the state to summer camps on the campuses of our technology centers. I have been observing and asking just what makes a summer camp succesful? I have gotten a lot of answers!

Let me start by saying we have some cool things going on this summer.

From summer camps for the younger students to remediation opportunities for the older students, you have a lot of choices.

At Caddo-Kiowa I observed students who were busy researching, designing and building paper airplanes. Plane doesn't fly as far as you want it to? Go back and redesign while you record your results. Fly it and calculate where it landed and plot several more attempts. What worked? What didn't? How does drag effect the flight? Do you need a larger tail fin? These students also had the opportunity to attend a flight school in Norman, shoot model rockets and are using mathematics and reading everyday!

At Mid Del Technology Center's middle school camp students had the opportunity to explore career majors. Students spent time in the classroom learning about what they could expect should they enroll. One class got to help tear down an engine while one left with a certification that they could use to babysit and completed CPR training!! Mid Del offered an intro to cooking class that was taught by a Family and Consumer Sciences instructor from a local high school. Pretty good idea for reaching out to your sending schools and involving faculty outside of your campus.

Leadership development was the task at hand when I observed Mid America's Tech Academy. Students made flags, made up group songs and went through several stations designed to build teamwork, communication skills and trust.

At Chisholm Trail middle school students used Anatomy in Clay to make hearts and brains that they could take home. They also learned about safety on social networking sites and used Webkins to learn about Web 2.0.

The summer camps that I observed were all very different and all exciting!! The students that were attending had smiles and were engaged in what was happening around them. Lots more thoughts have been flowing through my head about how you can incorporate summer camps into enrollment management and your Year Round Recruitment Plan.

I have a few more to visit this week, and you can bet I will be sharing the great news of what CareerTech has to offer when I get back!

6.09.2009

Promoting Camp

How are you promoting your Summer Camp?

Last week I emailed out to our coordinators a link from Caddo Kiowa Technology Center that showed how they are using Picaso Web albums, arming their camp counselors with digital cameras and are snapping over 100 pictures a day.

Gail indicated that their intent was to get around the "I Don't Knows?"

A link to the album is sent to the parents and counselors of the students. Now, when a parent ask their student what they did at camp during the evening meal, and the student says "I don't know," the parent can ask them about the purple rocket with orange stars that they built and launched.

The parent gets to see their kid shooting that rocket, the smiles on their faces, watch them prepare their egg drop or any number of fun, cool and educational things that their child is doing during the summer.

I know a few more technology centers are working with their marketing departments and are implementing this during their summer camps, what do you think?

Want to take it a step further? Watch a video about the Summer Wonder Camp of the Stillwater Childrens Museum. Wouldn't this make a nice intro on your website?

6.02.2009

2009 CareerTech Summer Camps

It is Summer Camp Time!!

Throughout Oklahoma, technology centers are conducting Summer Camps for students to participate in. Here are some of those camps.

Autry Technology Center
  • Autry Teen Tour-Students completing 6th-9th grades can experience hands-on activities and a chance for learning about a variety of careers during the month of June. June 1-5, 8-12, 15-19 and 22-26.
Central Technology Center
  • Tech Quest Camp-CSI Camp-June 3-4
Chisholm Trail Technology Center
  • Summer Camp (students entering 4th and 5th grades). Hands-on activities in each full-time program. June 18 and 19, 8:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.. Lunch provided. Location: Chisholm Trail Technology Center.
  • “Tricks of the Trade” (Teachers and Counselors at Sending Schools). Look good and feel better while learning the tricks of the trade. June 22-25, 9:00-11:00 a.m.
Caddo-Kiowa Technology Center
  • Tech Camp June 2-5 and June 8-11. Specifically for students identified as Gifted by their local school districts. Students entering 3rd-8th grade 09-10.
  • Summer Bridge for rising freshmen. Runs from the 1st – 26th.
Francis Tuttle
  • Summer Quest program offers students the opportunity to take fun and exciting classes during the months of June and July. Students can take up to two classes per day starting at 8 A.M. and ending at 3:30 P.M., Monday-Friday. Enrollment in Summer Quest 2009 will be based on your student’s grade level for the 2009-2010 school year.
Great Plains Technology Center
  • “Career Connections 2009,” June 8-12, Great Plains Technology Center: Opportunity for 7th, 8th, and 9th graders to experience career training in fields of medical science, engineering technology, and culinary arts, in week long camps. Two half day sessions are offered each day.
  • “Head, Heart, Hands, & Health Academy II,” June 2-5, 8am – 5 pm, for math and science teachers, and counselors. This is a joint effort with Great Plains Technology Center and Comanche County Memorial Hospital. With one day held at GPTC to learn about health career training and the biomedical career major; the other three days spent at the hospital in 14 different medical areas. 25 participants.
Indian Capital Technology Center
  • 3 camps for kids ages 13-16 this summer. Camp M & M (Medical Mystery). It is a partnership with NEAHEC. Muskogee June 8 -11, Stilwell June 22—25, Tahlequah July 6- 9
Meridian Technology Center
  • Future Quest June 8 and 9
  • Career Quest June 9 & 19
  • Exploring Engineering E2 June 29-July 1
Mid America Technology Center
  • Tech Academy June 8-10 and June 15-17 for students entering 8th grade this fall.8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Mid Del Technology Center
  • Students in middle school can learn about Auto Service; Auto Collision; Baubles, Bangles, and Beads; Babysitting 101; Computer Applications; Cosmetology; Construction; Drafting; Graphic Communications; Small Engines; and Welding. June 8 - June 19. 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Moore-Norman Technology Center
  • Youth Academy-There are 110 classes to choose from in the learning areas of technical and engineering, health and medical, personal interest and more. The classes challenge kids in their specific areas of interest and give them the opportunity to explore programs not available during the regular school year. Classes are age-appropriate and instruction is delivered through guided activities, hands-on-practice and lab activities. Age groups are divided into 9-11 year-olds, 12-14 year-olds and 15-16 year olds.
Northeast Technology Center
  • 7th and 8th graders, 9:00 to 3:00 each day, June 2-4 Afton, June 9-11 Pryor, June 16-18 Kansas
Northwest Technology Center
  • Northwest Career Academy-May 26-29
Pioneer Technology Center
  • Summer youth camp for fifth and sixth graders. First week of June
Red River Technology Center
  • EOI Remediation for Algebra I-Kids who passed Algebra I and failed the EOI. July
Tri County Technology Center
  • Challenge Masters - Leadership and Team Building Training for Teachers and Student Ambassadors - June 1st - 5th
  • Girl Power - PLTW Gateway to Engineering -Engineering Career Exploration for Girls in 5th - 8th Grades - June 8th - June 15th
  • TechWorks Academy - Orientation, Leadership, and Team Building Training for 10th grade students who are enrolled in our Drop-Out Prevention Program
Wes Watkins Technology Center
  • CSI Summer Camp, June 1-4

6.01.2009

Encouraging Students and Celebrating Failure


This weekend I had the opportunity to attend my daughters first dance recital.

During the course of the recital, one of the dance groups had a small flub. What they did was not important, or the point of this post, but what the crowd did as a reaction is.

When the mistake was discovered, the lights were dimmed and the music stopped, the class was brought back to the side.

When the lights came back on, the music started to play again and the students came on to start their routine again.

The crowd cheered! They just didn't politely clap, the hooted and hollered and brought smiles to the faces of the young girls as they started their routine once again. At the conclusion of the routine, the crowd cheered some more and the girls ran off the stage with huge smiles.

It was very cool to see parents be so enthusiastic in celebrating the mistakes and successes of the class. They could of been polite, and let them come back on stage to only politely clap at the end but they choose to be encouraging to the students and help build their confidence for what became a perfect routine .

How do you celebrate mistakes? Do you use it as an opportunity to teach and help students master the skill that they are having difficulty with, helping to build their confidence so that they can build upon those successes?

One last thought, my kids' teacher tells them that "If you can't make a mistake, you can't make anything!" What is the learning environment in your class?

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