Center for Advanced Technical Studies’ Summer Camps Give Students Hands-On Lessons in Possible Careers
June 17, 2014
CHAPIN, SC – Katherine Pierce curiously eyed the goo on the end of the metal tweezers.
“We’ve learned that bone marrow is very swishy,” she said, lightly prodding the gelatinous mass. “I want to be an engineer, so it’s fun for me to look inside things and see how they work.”
Pierce is one of more than a dozen students participating in camps at Lexington-Richland School District Five’s Center for Advanced Technical Studies (The Center) June 16-19. Aimed at giving middle school students a glimpse into program offerings, the camps include hands-on experiments and one-on-one interaction with students and instructors at The Center. This year’s camps include Camp Operation, where students are dissecting animal parts and organs, and a Future Film Makers Camp, where students get an introduction to moviemaking while completing a short film.
“These are not typical camps,” said Dr. Al Gates, assistant director for The Center. “We want the camps to be really exciting, learning-filled experiences for these middle school students so that they leave saying ‘I can’t wait until I get in the 10th grade so that I can take that class.’ It’s also a service to the parents of our district, who need something for their kids to do in the summer that’s different from traditional camps.”
Students at Camp Operation explored the inside of cows’ bones on the first day, scraping marrow and studying the layers and structures. The four-day camp will include dissections and study of eyes, hearts, brains – even a pig, said instructors Julie Krusen and Rebecca Howell.
“We wanted this to be fun for the students but also something they can learn from,” said Krusen, a biomedical science instructor at the school and District Five’s 2013-2014 Teacher of the Year. “They’re going to dissect a heart, they’re going to study neurology…and play medical examiners on the last day and dissect a pig. All these are hands-on lessons that will expose them to bioscience and give them a glimpse of classes we offer here at The Center.”
Howell added, “Students learn some life science and body systems lessons in seventh grade, but it’s really something in South Carolina we don’t study a lot. So, this gives them a leg up and a chance to experiment in an area that they’re interested in and learn a little more about it without it just being play.”
At the filmmaking camp, students used high-tech equipment to learn the fundamentals of video camera focus, levels and balances.
“Most of the students here are interested in filmmaking as a career, so the camps are appealing to them because they want to be creative and learn the technology. Plus, the students actually think it’s a fun thing to do during the summer,” said Ashlon Langley, a media technology instructor at The Center.
This is the first year of camp offerings at The Center, which plans to expand camp programs next year. Opened in August 2012, the Center for Advanced Technical Studies provides a standalone facility for students to build technical skills, gain certifications and earn college credits. Attended by students from the district’s four high schools, The Center offers high-tech courses in a wide variety of areas from biomedical science and auto mechanics to alternative energy and wielding. Other program offerings include mechatronics, law enforcement, graphic design, agricultural science, culinary arts and veterinary science.
