Programs include a STEAM camp, courses in robotics or computer coding or even playing at the South Jersey Spartans Basketball Academy.
School might soon be out for Mt. Laurel’s elementary and middle school students, but that doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy several fun and educational opportunities this summer through Mt. Laurel Schools Community Education Department.
For this summer, the district has announced a Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics camp, one-week courses in robotics or computer coding or even playing at the South Jersey Spartans Basketball Academy.
Marie Reynolds, director of communication services for the district, said the programs and camps are popular with families, as they give students fun and educational outlets that are different during the summer months.
“A lot of our students are very involved throughout the summer, whether it be through courses we’re offering here or camps that we offer,” Reynolds said. “Our students are just really involved with a number of projects over the summer months and these are really things our parents find very attractive.“
For this year’s STEAM camp, the program will present a full-day opportunity for kids ages 7 to 12 to participate in hands-on activities to teach about concepts such as circuits, physics, coding, robotics, and simple machines and more.
According to the district, the camp will allow children to utilize their creativity, innovation and problem-solving skills.
The STEAM camp will run from July 23 to July 27 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Parkway Elementary School. Cost of the program is $300 per child, plus an additional supply fee of $25 per child.
Also available this summer are several one-week courses focused on computer coding and robotics work at the Hartford School STEM lab.
The computer-coding course will give beginning students ages 8 to 13 a chance to program with visual- and text-based computer languages.
The program will run from July 9 to July 13 at Hartford from 10 a.m. to noon.
For those interested in robots, courses for beginners ages 8 to 13 will also run for several sessions from July 9 to July 13 from noon to 2 p.m., again on July 16 to July 20 from 10 a.m. to noon and once more on July 23 to July 27 from 10 a.m. to noon.
This course for beginners will teach students how to build and program robots using Lego Mindstorms NXT robotics kits.
For those looking to expand upon prior robotics knowledge, kids can attend advanced robotics courses from either July 16 to July 20 from noon to 2 p.m. or from July 23 to July 27 from noon to 2 p.m.
Students must complete either Mt. Laurel’s sixth-grade STEM or Robotics 1 before attending the advance robotics program.
In the advanced program, students will continue to use Lego Mindstorms robotics kits to explore robotics at their own pace.
The fee for all coding and robotics courses is $150 per session.
For those students looking for a little exercise with their education, the South Jersey Spartans Basketball Academy will be in Mt. Laurel’s schools again this summer for children ages 7 to 13 of all skill levels.
The academy will offer five, five-day sessions at Hartford from 9 a.m. to noon where certified instructors will provides children with an opportunity to improve their basketball skills while staying active.
Sessions will run June 25 through June 29, July 9 through July 13, July 16 through July 20, July 30 through Aug. 3 and Aug. 6 through Aug. 10.
Families must pay a one-time registration fee of $25 per child, plus a $110 fee per session, per child.
To enroll a student in any of the programs for this summer, visit the Community Education Department page on the district’s website at www.mtlaurelschools.org.
