Kellogg Community College’s latest KCC Bruin Youth Programming schedule is loaded with new classes and camps for the community’s youth, and is almost double the size of the previous year.
Bruin Youth Programming is a KCC Lifelong Learning Department initiative designed to get area youth ages 8 through 18 exposed to different career options. The initiative also provides an opportunity for students and their parents to become familiar with KCC.
Lifelong Learning Program Coordinator Abbie Brennan said the new schedule has 24 brand new camps, including camps focused on sign language, babysitting, CPR and first aid, several career camps, sports camps and many others.
One of the most unique aspects about the camps, Brennan said, is that they primarily serve middle school age students. Also unique about this summer’s camps is a week of technology camps designed specifically for girls.
“We want to expose girls to nontraditional career paths, and this is one way to do that,” Brennan said.
The Lifelong Learning Department started to ramp up its youth programming about three years ago and continues to grow and expand it every year. Last summer they served 350 students, and they hope to double that number this summer, Brennan said.
“Parents and kids alike seem to love the opportunities and value that our camps provide,” Brennan said. “We have students evaluate each camp, and the feedback has been wonderful. Something to note is that over 60 percent of our campers said they are more likely to come to school at KCC as a result of participating in our camps.”
Brennan said one of her favorite things about being the coordinator for Lifelong Learning is hearing the feedback about the camps. She recently heard from a grandmother who enrolled her grandson in KCC’s Study Strategies for Success Camp this last summer. The tools her grandson learned in the camp aided his success, Brennan said, and he is no longer struggling academically.
“That is why we do what we do. We want to help set kids on a path to success, and hopefully in the future that path leads them to KCC,” Brennan said.
For parents interested in signing their kids up for camps offered this summer, a Bruin Youth Programming Registration Open House will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 23, at KCC’s Miller Physical Education Building. Everyone who registers that day will receive a 10 percent discount off the cost of camps and can enter to win prizes.
For more information, contact the Lifelong Learning offices at 269-965-4134, email ll-info@kellogg.edu or view the Bruin Youth summer camp schedule online at www.kellogg.edu/youth.
