THANK YOU!

On behalf of the staff and directors of Hope College Summer Science Camps, thank you for your generous support this season. We couldn't have done it without you. 

Thank you for helping provide over 1000 K-12 camp opportunities.

Thank you for supporting 20 Hope College staff through a powerful experiential learning opportunity.

Selected perks are being prepared and will be mailed soon. Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Jedi's making holograms, students programming robots, first graders growing crystals, dissecting students remembering the names of detailed organs. Did you hear that amazing Ukelele concert?! The campers are so engaged in camps - it's amazing to see. 

In our final two weeks, let's keep up the momentum of support for the camps and our dedicated staff. Please continue to share the links and spread the word of our crowdfunding effort.

Staff is already throwing out ideas for next year - do we have two Tyke's Lego camps? Can we organize a nursing focused camp? Let's find an engaging Python programming curriculum... All have the desire to look forward to how the program will continue to serve and challenge so many students over the years.

Your support is inspiring to us all. Thank you.

Week 4 of Hope College Summer Science Camps is underway and going strong. Our largest group of campers yet are amazing us with their creativity and imagination.

Camp staff are sharing their excitement for learning and daily show concern for the growth and expression of each camper. Kindergarten through second grade students are building in Hammer Time, third through fifth graders are using science to turn them into master spies, middle school kids are racing robots, and high school students are exploring chemical reactions.

With only TWO WEEKS left - please help us spread the word of the success of camps. Spread the word that we still have funds to raise. Any amount makes a difference.

Thank you so much for your support.

ExploreHope

ExploreHope is going strong this summer with Hope students teaching K-12 campers in classes ranging from 3D art to movie making to creepy crawlies. There is still time to register campers, still progress to make toward the fundraising goal and still time to read recent 20th anniversary press coverage!

With this in mind, we have extended the deadline for this project to the end of July. You now have 32 days to share this project with a friend! Thanks for your continued support of ExploreHope and Hope College students. 

If you have questions or know of others interested in supporting the program, please contact Susan Ipri Brown, Director of ExploreHope at 616.395.7924 or browns@hope.edu.

Camps began with lots of energy and excitement this week. From Harry Potter robes to 3D printed rockets, campers of all ages were engaged and learning. What a pleasure to start each day welcoming their smiling faces.

Please spread the word of our efforts to raise these funds. We only have a short time left and still have half way to go. Any and all support appreciated. We deeply value our supporters and thank you for your efforts.

                   Meet our Amazing 2017 Summer Staff!

Kayty, Kendra, Hyeji, Emma, Mimi, Elizabeth, Genevieve, Allix, Emily, Emma, Betsy, Kevin, Regan, Erica, Mikayla, Chris, Sara and Paula

Don't you love us all in our camp t-shirts! These dynamic students have spent the past two weeks hard at work preparing for the start of camps on Monday. Curriculum is being tweaked, rooms decorated, chemical solutions prepared, and supplies bought. The energy is starting to grow in our staff room - and it's spreading into the halls and labs. 

The powerful combination of engineering majors, education majors, nursing majors, music majors and science majors is creating a great flow of information, ideas and collaboration. They have all grown so much and we've only just begun.

Your contributions are creating this impactful pre-professional learning experience for them. Their leadership, management, communication and professional skills will take huge strides through their work in the camps. Many people look at the smiles on the campers faces. Next time you see the staff, notice the smiles on their faces.

Pass this along - we're almost to the end and use all your support!

Thanks!

ExploreHope summer camps have more going on than meets the eye. Besides the public K-12 camps, several strong partnerships are ensuring that students have access to quality summer programs regardless of their socioeconomic status. 

The Step Up program on Hope's campus is a sister activity to CASA and Upward Bound, serving middle school students in need of additional academic mentoring. Through the camp program, ExploreHope sponsors two weeks of camps for these active middle school students. This year they will spend the morning exploring electronic circuits and basic programming while the afternoons will be a variety of more traditional 'camp' experiences. Additionally, the students are provided a related novel to support the engineering work as well as continue their literary skills over the summer.

Holland Public Schools' (HPS) rising eighth graders will join us for two weeks as part of the new STEM program at HPS. This past year was the inaugural STEM class for all district 6th and 7th graders. As the current 7th graders will soon be selecting higher level math and science courses, the summer program for them is meant to build their confidence in math and science as well as immerse them in real-world inquiry projects. 

For a busy week in July, ExploreHope hosts rising juniors from the Noble Network of Charter Schools based in Chicago. These aspiring college students spend a week at colleges around the country to give them a taste of college life and encourage them to apply to post-secondary education.

Your support makes these additional programs possible. Your support make a difference in these students' lives. Thank you.

Still working out your summer plans for the kids? Registration for Summer Camps is off to a great start! With several new camps this year, we can't wait to welcome the kids to campus. Please share this crowdfunding and the camp registration link with all your friends and family.

A dynamic group of 20 students are all set to join our staff this year. Ranging from elementary education majors, to engineering majors, to music majors, they are a passionate and engaged team. They will start on campus right after Memorial Day and participate in team building, campus safety, and classroom management training. Lots of time will be spent preparing the classrooms and finalizing their lesson plans.

What's new - staff personal favorite for this year is Tinker (Bell) Engineering. For those of you over 10 years old, TinkerBell is a 'tinker' fairy and makes all kinds of helpful contraptions for her fairy friends. What a great way to excite our youngest campers about engineering.

For the high school crowd, we have Experimental Design. This week-long camp will expose our top area students to how research is conducted and analyzed at the college level. Many campus partners will be contributing with the students. Part of our efforts to make camp welcome for all ages and levels.

Thanks again for all your support and we look forward to seeing all the kids on campus soon!

Why do I want to teach? I want to teach for the smiles and the laughter.  I want to teach to make a difference in a child’s life.

I started looking for summer opportunities during the fall semester.  One of my professors at Hope recommended applying to work at Science Camps.  I talked to past workers, and was instantly sold.  This was the unique opportunity I had been looking for.

My expectations going into that summer were slim.  All I knew was I was going to be teaching science.  But, I ended up teaching science, math, art, and engineering.  And I learned and grew in leadership skills, classroom and time management, and lesson planning.  This job provided me with a professional value I never expected to gain until I was in my first official classroom.  Science Camps taught me how to develop a lesson, but be ready to change it at a moments notice.  It taught me to cherish the moments with each individual student.  Camps taught me what it means to have an active learning environment to nurture inquiry and exploration. But most importantly, Science Camps taught me how to have fun as a teacher.

~ Elizabeth Orians, Class of 2018, Math Education