Running the gamut from sports and journaling to scrapbooking and zombie preparedness, Odessa College’s summer camps are set to kick off June 5 and be offered through Aug. 4.
Director of Community Recreation Christine Williams said they will have the regular sports activities like tennis, archery, golf, volleyball and soccer. They will also have camps at the Fab Lab, virtual reality, nuts, bolts and thingamajigs and bullet journaling.
Scrapbooking is a new camp suggested by the kids and there will be a chess 101 camp starting with the beginner levels and if the campers like it, they will add on advanced levels. This will be for ages 8 to 12 years old, Williams said.
Astronomy 101 and the science of astronomy will be available.
Astronomy 101 is geared toward the younger kids and the science of astronomy is going to be aimed at the older ones, so the students will learn more about the science of it.
“Snack Attack is back finally. I’m super-pumped about this one. We’re collaborating with culinary arts again. We haven’t had this camp since pre-pandemic. So I’m really excited that this one is back on and we’re also adding a dessert decorating camp with culinary arts, as well. We’ll have multiple camps over there,” Williams said.
The Snack Attack and Dessert Camp will be held in the culinary arts area at OC so the students will work with professional equipment and chefs.
“I’ve been wanting to do a dessert decorating camp, teaching kids how to decorate cupcakes and cakes,” and learning the difference between a butter cream and a royal icing, Williams said.
Overall, she added, there are 17 different types of camps with multiple times that they will be held. Williams said they will have three different archery camps, five tennis camps and four sessions of Camp Runamuckus, an all-sports camp. They can choose to do a morning session, an afternoon session or both for Camp Runamuckus.
During Camp Runamuckus, campers will stay active all day learning a variety of sports, going on field trips and learning Laser Tag. Every day ends with a swim in the indoor pool.
The teachers and staff are mainly Ector County ISD staff. Because there are more camps, Williams had to hire more staff than ever before because she wants to make sure that there are enough eyes on them and the campers stay as safe as possible.
All the staff goes through multiple trainings, certification and background checks. The training includes such as CPR, and child abuse recognition from Harmony Home and general training reviewing the programs, where all the equipment is and making sure they are ready to go, Williams said.
“This is the most camps that we’ve ever hosted. … I think it’s going to be fun. (We’re) just trying to get all of our last- minute details squared away,” Williams said.
The age range for the camps is 5 years old through high school, but 5-year-olds can join the tennis camps. For the other camps, the youngest children are 6.
Camp Runamuckus is for 6- to 12-year-olds. Archery is for 9 to 12-year-olds; the Fab Lab camps are for middle to high school students.
“We’re trying to have a bigger range of camps for all k through 12. I’m actually pretty happy with our lineup this summer. I’m excited,” Williams said.
“It’s a lot of fun when the kids get to campus as they get to run around from camp to camp and see what they’re doing.”
“… I want the kids to have fun with us this summer. I want them to stay engaged; meet new friends. They don’t always get to meet kids from outside their school, so it’s just a great time to come have fun and learn something new. … Hopefully we have 800 kids, that’s going to be amazing,” Williams said.
Planning the camps takes a long time. She starts asking people if they’ll come back after summer is over. After the first of the year, she starts putting a calendar together, seeing when people have vacations and when facilities are open and other items.
“We start ordering equipment early just to make sure it’s all here in time,” Williams said.
