From nursing to missions, summer camps prepare youth for the future
Janel Shoun |
Summer brings a wide a variety of academic camps – from nursing to music -- for students of all ages at Lipscomb University. Campers learn new concepts and valuable career skills from university professors and industry experts.
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Journalism Camp
June 5-8 Nursing and Healthcare Academy
June 6-10 Engineering and Robotics Programs
June 6-24 IMPACT Jr. and Sr.
June 17-25 BRIDGES
June 26-29 |
Law Camp
July 4-8 Summer Scholars
July 8-17 CSI Academy
July 11-15 |
Fine Arts Summer Academy
The Fine Arts Summer Academy, coordinated by the Annie Moses Band, is an intensive program for young musical artists. The academy bolsters the technical development of students, and puts that technique to work with on-stage, performing experience. The academy caps off with several public concerts by the hundreds of participating students.
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Saturday, July 16
11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Shamblin Theatre
in the Bennett Campus Center Lower Division Performance:
"Bible Lessons from a Barnyard" Saturday, July 16
7 p.m.
Collins Alumni Auditorium
String and Guitar Tracks Performances
Sunday, July 17
2 p.m.
Acuff Chapel
Drama Performance
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Sunday, July 17
4 p.m.
Collins Alumni Auditorium
Piano and Harp Tracks Performance
Sunday, July 17
7 p.m.
Shamblin Theatre
in the Bennett Campus Center Big Band, Voice and Dance Tracks Performance
Saturday, July 23
7 p.m.
Collins Alumni Auditorium
Upper Division Performance:
"Raising Ebenezer: The Rock of Remembrance." |
Summer Scholars gives high school students a taste of college life... and credit!
| Biology class included a visit with some frisky live organisms. |
Since its inception in 2009, Summer Scholars has welcomed more than 90 rising high school seniors to Lipscomb to participate in a 10-day camp that offers fun, new friends and college credit.
This year, the camp was held July 8-17 with 38 participants from states ranging from New York to Texas, and even the Bahamas. The students could choose from five classes: psychology, humanities, biology, communications or business, with each class receiving three hours of college credit.
While the students were out of class, they were kept busy exploring Nashville, playing on-campus games, having a luau and even canoeing down the Harpeth River.
“Exploring Nashville and being able to attend the Harry Potter midnight premiere were definitely some of the highlights of my experience. Not just because they were fun activities, but because it gave us all a chance to bond with each other,” said Hendersonville, Tenn., senior Skyler Schmanski. “I can honestly say that the friendships I made over the course of a little more than a week will last for years to come.”
Summer Scholars attracts many students who have already decided Lipscomb is for them, but also those who are still unsure. The camp introduces students to university campus life and to working with faculty and with classmates in a collaborative learning environment. It also introduced the students to learning from peers with different backgrounds.
“I came to Summer Scholars because of the diversity of students going. I saw that people were coming from Michigan, Texas, Ohio and New York. Everybody seemed to be interested in different activities, whether that was music, athletics or academics,” said Carsen Popelka, a senior from Suwanee, Ga. “I loved the idea of learning new things through these fellow students.”
“My advice for future students is to not hold back. You’ve only got one opportunity to participate in something like this,” Schmanski advises. “Step out of your comfort zone and make every second count!”
“This program is definitely worth the time and money. Everyone is so amazing and inviting. It was a great preview of college life in an awesome environment,” Popelka said.
Teens from across nation hear Congressmen Cooper
at Lipscomb Law Camp
| Congressman Jim Cooper at Law Cam |
The Institute for Law, Justice and Society hosted their annual Law Camp, July 4-8. Every year high school students from around the country come to Lipscomb’s campus to learn more about the judicial system. This year’s topic was zero-tolerance alcohol and violence policies and whether they are effective in the school systems. The teens explored not only the dangers of alcohol and drugs, but also the legal ramifications for violence within educational institutions.
On Friday, July 8, campers will hold a mock trial, arguing a case about a bullied middle-schooler who acted out in violence during a pep rally and was suspended from school for one-year under the zero-tolerance policy. Throughout the week, campers visited the state Capitol, night court, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings Law Firm, the Criminal Justice Center and Vanderbilt Law School. They were also visited by Tennessee Congressman Jim Cooper (D-TN) and Lipscomb President L. Randolph Lowry.
“I came to Law Camp because I’ve always had an interest in law and the judicial system,” Zayin Lackey, a sophomore from Charlotte, N.C., said. “My mom wanted me to choose an educational camp this summer, so I chose this one. The camp really opened my eyes to what actually goes on!”
Ale Dalton, a Lipscomb junior philosophy major from Cali, Colombia, taught the campers parliamentary procedure. “I was very impressed by how engaged and interested these students were. They were very receptive to what I had to say and asked a lot of questions,” she said. “They collaborated very well together. You could tell that they were some of the brightest in their classes.”
Bridges summer camp promotes college readiness for local high school students
BRIDGES is a four-day summer, residential camp held on Lipscomb University's campus by the Office of Intercultural Engagement. The goal of BRIDGES is to promote college readiness while introducing high-potential, high school students to career fields in which minorities are typically underrepresented, including law, engineering, technology and medical fields. Additionally students were exposed to college preparatory tools such as ACT prep, study skills, test taking and time management.
Twenty-six Middle Tennessee students participated. These students attend Nashville schools such as East Literature, Martin Luther King Magnet School, David Lipscomb and Father Ryan. They all attend local Church of Christ congregations.
During the camp, students learned about conflict management from Lipscomb President L. Randolph Lowry, visited local corporations, learned healthy lifestyles and career skills, and recieved instruction on various academic disciplines from Lipscomb professors and deans.
Click here to see the full activity program.
IMPACT gets youth 'hooked' on God, grants wish of local girl with cystic fibrosis
Click here to see Channel 5 coverage of IMPACT making a wish come true
More than 2,500 teens from all over the nation have converged on the Lipscomb University campus June 17-25 to enjoy the high-spirited combination of fun games, pranks, Bible study and worship that is IMPACT, an annual spiritually focused summer camp at Lipscomb University.
Youth groups from as far away as Ontario, Canada, and Montana have traveled to Lipscomb for both IMPACT Jr. and Sr., which include special interactive Bible classes taught by youth ministers, national keynote speakers, popular music acts and dynamic praise and worship. Teens hear challenging messages and enjoy special times of worship, concerts and activities, such as a dodge ball tournament, video game contests, inflatable games and Morning Impact, a daily pep rally in Allen Arena.
This year’s theme is “Hooked,” and an almost full-size pirate ship in Allen Arena is helping the coordinators tell the story of what happened to Peter Pan after the J.M. Barrie story. And, of course, the story offers up a challenging message about spiritual maturity.
IMPACT is not all fun and games. In years past the students have taken up collections to benefit Best Buddies, Nashville flood victims and the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program. This year, the 2,500-plus teens will take up money to make a little girl’s wish come true.
Isabella Frensley, a nine-year-old Murfreesboro native battling Cystic Fibrosis, got a big surprise on Friday, June 24, when the IMPACT campers revealed to her that she will be traveling to Walt Disney World in July to meet her favorite princess Belle from Beauty and the Beast.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. The Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation has granted over 900 wishes with plans of granting the 1000th wish in 2011.
Impact co-coordinator David Skidmore, a youth minister in Murfressboro, has led his youth group to raise funds for several Make A Wish kids in Middle Tennessee, and this year brought the idea to the IMPACT camp. Isabella got to talk with Mickey Mouse by phone and to meet Belle on stage before she even left Nashville. The family was presented with Target gift cards to prepare for the trip, and Isabella got a bag full of goodies to use while in Florida.
The IMPACT campers had to raise $6,000 for this little girl’s wish to be granted. There are expected to be leftover funds, which will go to help tornado and flood victims across the nation.
Local students take on nursing duties at the TriStar Health System/Lipscomb Nursing and Healthcare Academy
Students use high-tech patient manikins, surgical robot at Summit to learn health care
Twenty-two local middle and high schoolers will get a taste of life working in the ER this week at the fourth and largest TriStar Health System/Nursing and Healthcare Academy, held June 6-10, on the Lipscomb campus. These aspiring Nightingales will be learning basic health care skills such as how to take vital signs and blood pressure, how to conduct an EKG, first aid and good nutrition. Learning activities will include watching a robotic surgery demonstration, performing basic health care techniques on SimMan patient manikins in the Lipscomb School of Nursing, pharmacy experiments in the Lipscomb College of Pharmacy lab and touring Summit Medical Center and Vanderbilt’s LifeFlight emergency vehicle.
Campers get their own set of Nursing Academy scrubs and, upon completing the camp, their own stethoscope. They will learn from medical doctors, HCA’s TriStar nurses, nurse practitioners, doctors of pharmacy and Lipscomb professors of medical chemistry, dietetics and physics throughout the week.
Twenty-two eighth- through twelfth-graders from throughout the Nashville area are expected to attend. The Urban League of Nashville partnered with Lipscomb to recruit minority students to the camp. Participating campers attend school atBeech High School, Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet High School, Hunters Lane High School, Glencliff High School, Antioch Middle School, Haynes Middle School and others.
“As the need for dedicated, skilled health care professionals continues to grow, it is important to inspire interest at an early age. This unique program is an excellent way for students to learn what they need in terms of education, experience and passion for the work in order to achieve success in any health care profession,” said Mike Cassity, vice president of human resources for TriStar Health System.
Some of the most interesting activities for campers during the week include:
- Learning to use a stethoscope and to read each other’s blood pressure;
- Learning basic health care techniques on the official patient manikins in the Lipscomb School of Nursing. These manikins can cough, moan, say yes and no, can simulate basic vital signs and can be used to learn to insert an IV;
- Playing an open heart surgery computer game to learn about heart functions;
- Learning to conduct EKG tests on one another;
- During a half-day tour of the Summit Medical Center, campers will see a demonstration of the Da Vinci surgical robot; and
- Conducting pharmacy experiments with Lipscomb College of Pharmacy professors in the laboratory.
Nissan donates $40,000 to Lipscomb’s Engineering and Robotics Camps
Lipscomb University’s Raymond B. Jones College of Engineering recently received a $40,000 grant from Nissan Americas to fund the university’s summer Engineering and Robotics Camps. The contribution supports scholarships for participants as well as underwrites program costs.
More than 100 students will be attending the camps this summer. To get the students excited about engineering and building robots, the Lipscomb faculty will use a combination of classroom learning, individual instruction, construction projects and competition events. In addition, students will have a field trip to the Nissan Smyrna plant to see first-hand how robots are used in the manufacturing process.
“This is a great opportunity for us to partner with Nissan, who is a leader in the field of engineering. It enhances the program that we offer. It also allows us to offer scholarships to make this competition accessible to more students,” said Fred Gilliam, dean of the Raymond B. Jones College of Engineering.
Education is a key focus of giving at Nissan. In addition to supporting the Engineering and Robotics camps, Nissan has also provided funding for and partnered with Lipscomb on the BEST program. BEST — Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology — is a nonprofit volunteer-based organization, which organizes the annual six-week competition designed for middle and high school students to encourage them to pursue careers in engineering, science and technology.
“The summer camps align with our corporate giving priority on math and science educational programs,” said Susan Brennan, vice president, manufacturing, Nissan Americas. “We are excited to partner with Lipscomb to build excitement in young people to pursue careers in engineering.”
In addition to the grant, Nissan engineers will volunteer at the camp to share their expertise about various engineering projects and technology.
Engineering and Robotics Camp Official Site