Minds-on, hands-on learning is at the forefront of every camp offered by The Center for Gifted Studies at Western Kentucky University. But that’s not the main reason kids come back summer after summer.
“This place is where you can learn without feeling like it’s school,” said Sydney Schulten of Fayetteville, Georgia. “It’s just magical.”
Open to students who have completed grades 7-10, the Summer Program for Verbally and Mathematically Precocious Youth (VAMPY) is a three-week residential camp designed for academically-talented students. Campers pick a topic for three weeks of in-depth study taught by WKU faculty and outstanding area teachers. With small classes, no grades and motivated teachers who understand advanced learners, VAMPY allows students to discover, follow and develop their passions.
“At school it doesn’t seem like I’m learning much because everything goes so slowly,” said Charly Nanney of Memphis, Tennessee, “but here we’re going through the curriculum really fast.”
Added Cathleen Smalley of College Grove, Tennessee, “VAMPY has made me happier in my regular life. I started taking harder classes in schools so I would not be bored all the time because VAMPY taught me how to learn and how to enjoy it.”
What happens outside the classroom is as important as what happens in it. In addition to living in the residence halls at WKU, students eat meals together and participate in a variety of social activities in the evenings and on the weekends.
“I first came to VAMPY purely for the academics. I went in thinking, ‘I’m going to take a class and be done with it,’” said Coleman Reed of Richmond, Kentucky. “Then I got here, and I realized I was making friendships that were going to last a lifetime.”
Hollis Maxson of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, summed it up this way: “It’s all the best parts of school – learning, growing with friends, bettering yourself – but without the negatives of stress and pressure.”
Financial assistance for students experiencing need is available for all camps offered by The Center for Gifted Studies, but a unique opportunity is possible for those studying Arabic at VAMPY. Thanks to a generous grant from Qatar Foundation International, up to $2,000 for all qualifying students or the full amount of tuition for those demonstrating financial need is available. The scholarship information can be accessed at wku.edu/gifted/vampy/arabic/.
Students in grades 6-8 can opt for the Summer Camp for Academically Talented Middle School Students (SCATS), a two-week residential or nonresidential program. Instead of studying one subject, SCATS campers attend four courses daily throughout their stay. Course offerings change each year; past classes ranged from mathematics to graphic design to Greek mythology.
In addition to WKU faculty and area teachers, courses are taught by teachers in the WKU graduate program in gifted studies. They structure their courses around students’ interests and understand how to allow students to learn at higher levels and to think and create in their own ways.
“I love the teachers here because if you have a question, they can go in-depth with their answer,” said Halle Burton of Russell Springs, Kentucky. “It’s very exciting.”
To learn more about summer programming with The Center for Gifted Studies, including required academic qualifications and financial assistance, go to wku.edu/gifted/vampy and wku.edu/gifted/scats.
-submitted by WKU Center for Gifted Studies
