By Devon Martinez, Staff Writer
PC: Jim Root
Design: Noelle Dolan
Dreaming is important, but somewhere along the way, we lose sight of the dreams that existed before we grew up. What if there were solutions to ensure that those dreams were never lost? Well, instead of a boring summer where you did nothing what if there was an opportunity to get up and learn something new in an interactive way?
For the fifth year, Teen College Summer Camp is ready and prepared to offer teens in the Colorado Springs area the opportunity to complete hands-on courses catered to already existing college degrees and courses that Pikes Peak Community College (PPCC) offers.
The theme for this year is “Your Dream Starts Here” encouraging students to think big.
The Workforce Development team at PPCC created and is offering this award-winning PPCC program at the Centennial Campus for six weeks during June and July. Registration is currently open for all current 5th to 8th graders in Colorado Springs.
Each course is offered for five days, and parents can choose to register for half day classes 8am-12pm or full day classes 8am-5pm. PPCC offers financial aid for parents in need of assistance, and also is offering an early bird special of 10% for all parents who sign up prior to April 15th.
The courses are taught by PPCC professors, who work hard to ensure that students learn valuable lessons that will carry with them as they move forward in school.
Photography professor Michelle Mondragon taught the summer camp class entitled, “Picture it: You as a Photographer” last year and she is instructing the class again for the 2019 summer. She witnessed first-hand last summer the students curiosity as they got to explore something new.
“Each day they became more excited and curious and had a lot of great questions on how to shoot and process. I was able to get posters made from their work on the last day. They loved having their art printed in poster form,” Mondragon said.
Returning students can expect something new as the courses are altered every year to ensure they stay excited.
Culinary arts have been the most popular subject for the past couple of years, and there are new courses every year focused on preparing different types of food, like breakfast sandwiches in this year’s new course, “Sandwiches Again”.
The culinary arts aren’t the only subject that had high enrollment and student excitement: courses in cyber security, game design, photography, Emergency Medical Service (EMS) training, and law enforcement are extremely popular as well.
New courses were added in the absence of robotics classes not being available this summer, for example, “Bring your A-game” guides students through high school and college giving them the tools needed for them to succeed. “Dig it All Up” is another class that provides students, the opportunity to practice archeology and study artifacts.
The success of Teen College is apparent in the awards its won which includes, an International award from LERN for excellence in Brochure Design in 2017, and in 2018 an International Award from LERN for excellence in Marketing.
More important than awards are the students who have opened their minds to a world of possibility by taking these classes, and for the returning students who now have a fun packed summer where they can chase their dreams while having an epic summer.
