As appeared in The Virginia Gazette – article about our VA summer camps held at the College of William & Mary

As appeared in The Pioneer Press…

As appeared in The Evanston Round Table…

As appeared in The Virginia Gazette – article about our VA summer camps held at the College of William & Mary

July 5th, 2006 by: Ryan

Computer camp excites imagination

By Sharon Schiff

As computer screens radiate, so do the minds of the savvy children enrolled in computer camps at the College of William & Mary. They not only learn technology, they create it as well.

Enthralled by his own video game creation, 9-year-old Adam Bloack could barely take his eyes off his monitor as he explained his game.

“See, you have to get this guy John Minor out of these jewel caves, and collecting jewels gives you extra points and they are hidden under rocks,” Bloack said, hardly stopping to blink. “I’m doing very well in my game……Look, look at this – charge! Ahh, he vaporized me.”

Bloack, who went to the camp with his 10-year-old cousin from New Jersey, is among 32 kids aged 7-17 immersed into techie world. “I’m really glad I am going here.” Bloack said. “I have really learned a lot.” The campers explore the world of technology through robotics, programming, digital videography, video game design and web design.

Caitlin Kelley, 13, sat before a 3-D video game she created. She used characters from her favorite show, “Charmed,” as the basics for her animation. She finds working in 3-D especially challenging because one has to create an allusion for things to look real.

One group of campers that was participating in a digital video session made a five minute movie. They wrote a script, acted, filmed, and produced an intentionally inaccurate comedy using software Final Cut Pro. In the film Thomas Jefferson attempts to write the Constitution but is prevented from doing so by Benjamin Franklin’s rude intrusions. “Benjamin wipes his face on the Constitution, blows out a candle and distracts Thomas Jefferson by playing his guitar,” explained Allie Nyguen, 13, who has a passion for film. “It was fun, I really liked getting to film from all different angles.”

Instructor Rob Yip has been working closely with his campers to teach them programming & robotics. Using Java script, the kids have created electronic “Mad Libs,” built a calculator and are working on creating a function for a robot they put together.

Camp director Kevin Kvalvik is stepped in educational technology. For him, the “inquiry-based” instruction works very well. Already he has been impressed with “the cream of the crop” children he’s had the opportunity to work with. “We have groups of kids that are not timid about what they are learning.” Kvalvik said. The children enjoy the experience, ask lots of questions and produce top-notch projects. “When you have them for a week, you can create a culture and take giant steps,” Kvalvik said. “Kids here instantly vamp up to college-level work. “They just get it.”

The instructors are mostly college students, graduate students or those experienced in the field of technology. The camp was founded by a family-owned company, where the idea originated while Alexa Ingram Cauchi was working on a business project at the University of Washington. She started up the camp with the help of her parents and brother and it has taken off.

Want to go? A company called Internal Drive runs the camps. Sessions are available at 40 colleges across the country. Tech camps are in their eighth season, but this year is the first time at W&M. Sessions began June 18 and run through July 28^th. The price is $699 for day camp and $1,099 overnight. Space is still available. Log on to internalDrive.com or call 888-709-8324.