Middle school students immersed themselves in a variety of workshops during their five-day stay at IU during the Office of Community and School Partnerships’ Pathfinders Camp in June.
The free camp was offered from June 15-19 for eighth graders, and June 22-26 for sixth and seventh graders.
Workshops varied based on their grade level. Eighth graders focused on science. Seventh graders concentrated on math and technology. Sixth graders were provided a book to read that is complimented with workshops in language arts.
“We try to get people who specialize in each of the areas so they can focus on what the students should know and be learning before each school year,” Pathfinders Summer Camp Coordinator Re’Nesha Weston said.
The IU Office of Community and School Partnership seeks to reach out to middle school students through various programs with the main goal of encouraging students to seek higher education, according to the website.
Weston said the counselors for the camp were IU students who volunteer regularly with the Office of Community and School Partnerships and are familiar with their programs and goals.
“We want the counselors and teachers to be role models for these students, showing them all the opportunities available at IU or any college,” Weston said.
Prior to becoming the Pathfinders Summer Camp Coordinator, Weston said she was a camp counselor for Pathfinders for four years and volunteered at the office during her time studying at IU.
“I wanted to be a resource to someone, and working with the Office of Community and School Partnerships made me feel like I was making a difference,” she said.
Kim Morris-Newson, associate director of the Office of Community and School Partnerships, has been working for the office since 2004. She said when Pathfinders started in 2000, there were approximately 300 students enrolled in the camp.
She said this year, there were a total of 109 students.
“Though most of our students are from Indiana, some come from other states, like New York and Texas,” Morris-Newson said.
Morris-Newson said Pathfinders allows middle school students to see what college is like, with the hope the students will enroll at IU when they graduate high school.
“The camp allows the students to talk to different department heads and faculty members so they can see what they would like to get involved in on campus,” she said.
Katie Moulton, newsletter editor at Pathfinders, said the camp was mostly located in Forest Residence Center. However, the camp also organized classes throughout all of campus and visits to IU cultural centers.
Morris-Newson said that each day, students participated in an afternoon activity such as swimming, bowling, a trip to Kirkwood or a talent show.
“The biggest complaint we get about the camp is that it isn’t long enough,” Morris-Newson said. “Students love to learn about their topics, make new friends and discover what they want in a university.”
Weston said that in future years, they hope to increase knowledge about Pathfinders so the program will expand to include more students. Additionally, she said the Office of Community and School Partnerships wants to create a better method of following up with students who took part in the camp.
“Students return to the program with higher GPAs, and we hear by word of mouth that they are doing better in their classes, but we want to get more data about how the students are doing in school following Pathfinders so we can adjust our program accordingly,” Weston said.
