IVCC to host summer youth camps

Illinois Valley Community College’s popular summer camps for children and teens again will get underway this summer, centering on robotics, art, space exploration, fishing, welding, animation, culinary arts, artificial intelligence, CAD design, agriculture and several other themes.

Thirty-five in-person Ed’Venture camps will be offered on campus in Oglesby and at Nell’s Woodland in Ottawa. Another 20-plus camps are offered live online through the Black Rocket technology company.

“IVCC summer camps provide a fun, educational environment with a focus on team-building, positive social experience and academic enrichment,” community program manager Kim Koehler said in a news release.

The summer schedule includes new programs such as AI Adventures and Culinary Chemists, Koehler said.

“In AI Adventures, participants will use cutting-edge technology and artificial intelligence to design fully interactive games and experiences,” she said. “In Culinary Chemists, participants will journey into a world of edible science experiments.”

Popular programs returning this summer include:

• Space Camp, which features a science project, story and craft time, rocket-making and a special guest visitor from NASA.
• Camp Kindness, which focuses on character-building activities, team-building, civic mindedness, acts of kindness and problem-solving.
• Fish Tales, where students will learn fishing skills in the classroom and practice them on field trips.

A full list of camps can be found at ivcc.edu/summercamp.

Full Black Rocket camp descriptions and online registration information can be found at blackrocket.com/online/ivc.

Teens aged 13 to 17 can explore careers such as health, manufacturing/automotive, cybersecurity, agriculture and welding.