Summer is just a few months away, and families may be looking at signing students up for summer camp.
Sheila Womack directs the GEAR UP Southern West Virginia partnership grant, which gives grants to high school students in Southern West Virginia to attend career-focused summer camps.
“They enjoy having something that they enjoy doing during the summer that allows them to explore opportunities for the future, but it’s also fun,” Womack said. “It’s not just, you know, learning and sitting in a classroom. They get those hands-on experiences, and they find it really valuable.”
Womack said summer can give students a much-needed reset to their academic year. But it can also be a time when students fall behind academically, or what’s sometimes referred to as the “summer slag.”
“Reframing the opportunity of the summer as something that you can build upon everything that was learned in the prior years and keep that momentum going, moving into the next grade, is super important,” Womack said.
GEAR UP scholarships will pay students up to $500 to attend career-focused camps anywhere in the country. This program is for 9th and 10th graders in Mercer, Monroe, Raleigh, Summers, and Wyoming Counties and is aimed to help students build skills that could help them earn a college degree or in a career. Gear Up is accepting applications for funding until May 22nd.
Many colleges and universities across Virginia offer camps focused on things like engineering, electronics, crime scene investigation, and more. Some, including New River Community College, do not charge students to attend camps.
Summer camp opportunities for middle and high school students:
- Career camps at Virginia Western Community College in Roanoke (some free)
- Free career camps at New River Community College in Dublin, Va.
- GEAR UP SWV camps at Concord University and New River Community and Technical College in Beaver, W.Va.
