Over the summer, the Willow Hill Heritage and Renaissance Center in Portal has hosted its annual Techie Camp. With the support of the Nordson Corporation, Tech Corps was able to offer their six-week program to students from 3rd grade to 8th grade right here in Bulloch County.
Tech Corps is an organization that believes all K-12 students should have access to high-quality computer science learning experiences.
An overview of the camp
The first camp started on June 3, and the first week focused on Programming. Using the “Scratch” software, students were able to learn the concepts of computer programming by using a simple graphical user interface.
Week Two was App Development week, where as the name suggests, the students were able to create their very own apps. Week Three was Digital Animation week, where the students were able to create an animated film through stop-motion, sound effects, and voiceovers.
To wrap up June, students were able to create old school games like MarioKart and Pac-Man. With MakeCode Arcade, they were able to dive into basic game design concepts and craft games that they could download on their handheld consoles.
Kicking off July, the students were able to build Lego Mindstorm EV3 robots. They were able to expand their logical and mechanical thinking skills as they worked in teams to design and implement the ultimate robot. For the last week of camp, students used robots to navigate through different obstacle courses. At the end of each week, students presented their final project to their parents and peers.
There were other activities to do during the camp too, like the garden out back where the kids were able to tend to fruit plants. Not only that, the Bulloch County Recreation and Parks Department partnered up with the Techie Camp to provide athletic activities like tug of war, basketball, volleyball, some water games, and kickball.
To get the full experience, kids could sign up for all six weeks of the camp, or just do as many weeks as they wanted.
Jakeira Evans is one of the tutors at the Techie Camp, and she is also a sociology major at Georgia Southern.
“I'm here to help children learn and help encourage them to get out of their comfort zone so they can learn new things, because I feel like children are our future,” Evans said.
Donya Glenn, also one of the tutors at the camp, is a recent graduate of Georgia Southern in public health and plans to return in the fall for his master's. He is seen here playing Jeopardy with the students.
Chief Operating Officer for Tech Corps Dr. Carla Easley came down from Ohio to visit the Willow Hill Heritage and Renaissance Center to see how things were going, and was quoted as saying that the program was "one of the best programs in the country.”
What's in store for next year?
Since the program's inception, the number of students signed up went from 25 to 240. The program is no longer just for middle school students; it is 3rd to 8th grade now. With that being said, there is always room to grow. That is why next year, the Techie Camp will be extending from a six-week camp to an eight-week camp.
The late Dr. Gayle Jackson was instrumental in bringing the Techie Camp to Willow Hill. Her husband, Dr. Alvin Jackson M.D., Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Willow Hill Heritage and Renaissance Center, spoke about how happy it makes him feel knowing that his wife's work will live on through the Willow Hill Heritage and Renaissance Center and future Techie Camps ahead.
Dr. Gayle was very passionate about kids and their education, and more importantly, wanted them to understand their potential. Through these camps, she believed that the students could see that there is more to education than just high grades. Thanks to continued corporate and community support, it seems that many more students will now have that opportunity.
