The Central Cambria High School hosted a variety of summer camps for interested students in grades 5 through 8. These camps were offered, for a fee, from the weeks of June 13-17 and June 27-July 1 where students attended from 9am to noon daily.
The goal of these camps was to teach younger students a variety of useful tools in the fields of creative technologies. The offered camps include: “Anatomy of a Computer” Camp, where students had the ability to explore the components of a computer to discover how they work, taught by Dr. Karwoski; Art, Design, and Technology Camp, where students learned how to take a technological approach to graphic design, taught by Mr. Dumm; and Video and Broadcasting Camp, where students could learn about the broadcasting field and gain a greater appreciation for audio-visual technology, taught by Mrs. Shirk.
Anatomy of a Computer had the students travel through the inner workings of a computer, to the writing of a computer game. The students learned more than they ever would have thought possible in such a short time. Dr. Karwoski stated, “[he] is looking forward to having these “tech guys” in class.”
“The ‘technology in the arts’ workshop was a lot of fun” stated Mr. Dumm. The students got hands on experience working with digital photographs, and editing digital imagery using Adobe Photoshop. They created monsters and creatures from their own photos, and learned how some of today's top special effects professionals use similar technology in the movies and shows they watch every day.
The students also wrote, directed, and helped film a short movie which was filmed digitally and edited on the computer. The ten minute film was a ghost story about a haunted middle school, filmed in and around the Central Cambria campus. Mr. Dumm found the final product was very amusing and entertaining. “We were very happy to see such enthusiastic students taking a bit of time out of their summer break to learn more about this field, and explore their interests” said Mr. Dumm.
Students enrolled in the Broadcasting Camp were able to complete many different projects reported Mrs. Shirk including learning different camera shots, storyboarding and filming their own movie, creating a stop motion film, as well as broadcasting the daily news from Central Cambria High School’s CCTV Studio. Students were able to learn many new programs including conversion software, movie maker, and AVS editor. "The best part of the experience for me was seeing the students’ excitement and creativity towards each project they undertook," stated Mrs. Shirk.
All teachers involved in the summer camps acknowledged the great importance of continuing education into the summer months for all students and the great opportunity that the summer camps had to extending the curriculum in a hands on forum for those enrolled students.
