Summer Camps - By: Jane Langille

Every summer, there are about 10 weeks where our children are not in school and can benefit from a summer camp experience to break up that long stretch of time from the end of June to the beginning of September. There are many different camps throughout the province which provide a wide range of opportunities for social fun, leadership development, or learning a new skill. For some children, camp can be an even more positive experience if they share something in common with the others, like being gifted!

To assist you in your quest to find the right program for your children, the following provides information on those camps that market themselves as being targeted for gifted or bright children. This list is by no means exhaustive, but we hope it will provide some key information you can use to follow up and find out if these programs are right for your family. Web sites and contact details are provided for each program.

1. Bright Math Summer Camp – University of Ottawa. This camp is run in collaboration with the Department of Math and Statistics. Different levels are offered. A brochure and information are available at www.uottawa.ca/academic/info/summer/mathcamps.html.
2. Deep River Science Academy (DRSA) is an award-winning, six week summer program dedicated to giving high school students the opportunity to test-drive a scientific career in leading Canadian laboratories and earn academic credits while they do it. Each pair of students is supervised by a researcher and tutored by a university student. The Academy has operated for over 13 years and typically has about 70 students between the ages of 13-18 years. Campuses are located in Deep River (Ontario), Pinawa (Manitoba) and Okanagan (B.C.) and a bilingual campus in Fredericton (N.B.). The high quality research experience can serve to help students choose a career direction and pro- vide help in course selection in later university. The university student tutors benefit from the research and the tutoring experience, as well as from the sum- mer salary. More information is available at www.drsa.ca or by calling 1-800-760-drsa.
3. Shad Valley is an international summer motivational program which exposes top youth to the best in science, technology and entrepreneurship. It is designed especially for top students in high school and is offered at eight host campuses across Canada (Waterloo, Calgary, New Brunswick, McMaster, Acadia, Carleton, UBC and Sherbrooke) and one in England. Participants hail from countries all over the world. In operation since 1981, it is operated by Shad International, a certified educational institution and a Canadian registered charity. The month of July is spent at one of the universities across Canada or in England in a four week academic program comprised of stimulating and varied lectures, workshops, and group projects. The majority of participants also pursue a five-week work-term with a Shad partner company, testing their minds and skills on intriguing real world challenges. The web site outlines the characteristics that a typical Shad Valley candidate would display, including: creativity, initiative, leadership, and high academic success, especially in math and science. See more details at www.shad.ca, where you can download a brochure and an application form.
4. Peel Summer Academy provides a unique two-week summer residential program for intellectually gifted students. In its 19th year of operation, this program serves to provide stimulation, fun, and social growth as students select from a menu of courses that are exploratory and non-evaluative. In total, there are four programs at four different venues. Program 1 operates at the University of Toronto at Mississauga, for students in Grades 4 through 8. Each student attends four exploratory courses each day as well as participating in late afternoon and evening recreational activities. Program 2 provides a Northern Ontario Leadership Experience for students in Grades 7, 8 and 9. There are two different settings, the first near Caledon where the students campout and participate in environmental activities and the High Ropes Challenge. The second setting is in Moosonee and includes stays in northern lodges, visits with Cree people and continuation of leadership activities. Program 3 is meant for students in Grades 9 and 10 and takes place at Memorial University of Newfoundland at St. John’s. Memorial University is one of the world’s foremost centres for ocean studies and course opportunities reflect sciences, arts, and marine technologies. Program 4 also is housed at Memorial University but at the Corner Brook location and is a Grade 10 Leadership Experience. This program is for those students who would like to visit a more remote part of Newfoundland and who want to develop their leadership potential, as they participate in day and overnight excursions along the western coast of Newfoundland. All the details can be found at the web site www.peelsummeracademy.com.
5. Children’s Technology Workshop is fairly new on the scene in the Greater Toronto Area. This summer day camp is the result of five years of development by a former head of science and director of technology at a private boy’s school in Toronto. Campers choose from a series of themes including Mission to Mars, Expedition Egypt, Team F1, Fashion Designer, Architect, Olympics, Medieval, Entrepreneur, Rescue, and Animation missions. Within these missions, children ages 8 to 14 may do activities in the following areas: computer and stop-frame animation; mechanical engineering and robotics; computer programming; video game programming; graphic design; and invention. While not overtly marketed toward gifted children, you may find that this type of camp is a good fit if you happen to have a spatial wizard at your house. Year-round facilities operate in Toronto and Mississauga, with satellite camps located in schools in Oakville, Markham, and Richmond Hill. More details can be found at www.ctworkshop.com or call 1-866-566-4366.
6. Discover Engineering Camp at Ryerson University is a summer day camp to inform young women about engineering and to encourage them to consider post secondary education and a career in this profession. Young women spend five days at Ryerson, undertaking hands-on projects in a wide variety of engineering subject areas such as making slime and lip balm in a chemistry lab, using LEGO to learn about mechanical engineering, and designing and building electronic and digital circuits. They meet women engineers and engineering students and learn about the challenges and excitement of both an engineering career and education. For more information, go to the web site at www.discoverengineering.ryerson.ca.