Posted on July 15: Setting up camp at McMaster
[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/VentureCamp3.JPG” caption=”Venture Engineering & Science”]Allison Leanage peers intently into a microscope. She has a very important job to do. Before Friday she must solve a forensic mystery that occurred in the John Hodgins Engineering Building.
“I'm investigating a simulated crime scene,” the 11-year-old says. “The crime happened on Sunday and we have to look at the DNA, blood types, fingerprints and collect evidence from the crime scene. On Friday we're going to have a court trial.”
Leanage is one of 800 students signed up for the Venture Engineering & Science and Adventures in Engineering Computing camps, hosted by the Faculties of engineering and science.
This summer, more than 3,000 elementary and secondary students will be treated to a behind-the-scenes look at McMaster through one of the many camps held on campus.
One of the most sought-after camps is Sports Fitness School (SFS), which attracts about 1,600 students each year. SFS usually books up months in advance, says SFS senior manager Tom Pain.
This year, SFS celebrates its 25th anniversary and will host an alumni celebration at the end of the summer to commemorate this milestone.
SFS provides those ages six to 16 with a wide range of activities, such as synchronized swimming, wrestling, tennis and lacrosse.
McMaster also hosts week-long Marauder sports camps,
which focus on the development of basic fundamental skills in one sport only. Campers choose from basketball, football, swimming and volleyball.
Mini University, which has both an academic and athletic focus, is a camp for those aged 10 to 15. In this camp, participants experience what it is like to be a university student in subjects such as psychology, journalism, drama and anthropology.
During peak times, there could be as many as 1,000 students on campus a day, says manager of athletics Tim Louks, whose involvement with SFS began in 1983. “The camps are a great opportunity to expose McMaster to prospective students,” he says. “They see the logo, they wear McMaster uniforms . . . it's all that exposure that we're providing them with and if high school students like what they see they'll probably remember McMaster when they're applying to university.”
SFS has touched a lot of people, including junior leader Jackie Plessl, an OAC student who has attended camp every year since age six. “I grew up at camp,” says the 17-year-old on a break from teaching dance class.
Plessl is one of five high school students who belong to the Junior Leadership Program for 16 to 18 year olds. In total, 87 staff members work with SFS, most of whom are kinesiology students, athletics & recreation staff and varsity athletes. Many staff pursue careers in coaching and teaching athletes when they graduate, says Louks.
Such was the case with Pain, who has been with SFS since 1996. Pain, an elementary school teacher and guidance counsellor, spends his summers working at SFS. “It's a great place to be as a young teacher,” he says. “I'm not ready to have my summers off yet.”
Fourth-year political science student and camp counsellor Crystal Chislett has similar sentiments. “When I first started coming to sports camp two years ago, I didn't know if I would like it,” she says, “Now, I wouldn't change my summer job for the life of me. It's been an experience of a lifetime.”
Photo caption: Pictured from left, Rachel Snively, 12, Kaitlyn Whelan, 12, and Allison Leanage, 11, explore the world of forensic science with camp counsellor Rebecca Blackburn, in the Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Science's Venture Engineering & Science camp. Photo credit: Chantall Van Raay
