A sense of excitement is growing as we are days away from the start of the fall semester and a new academic year. Ripples of hope are flowing throughout the campus as we prepare to initiate welcome back activities like a long-awaited family reunion.
We are ready. We return with a restored sense of confidence following many highly successful summer camps and conferences.
Summer athletic camps brought much joy and hard work for nearly 1,300 youngsters eager to develop their skills in football, women’s soccer, wrestling, volleyball, and men’s and women’s basketball.
For those looking for a bit more of a cerebral experience, our fabulous and highly engaging Science and Mathematics Education Institute (SEMI) hosted summer camps for students in grades 2-8. A variety of camp options allowed these youngsters to learn to build, program, and test LEGO robots using LEGO EV3 software; to expand upon their engineering knowledge by constructing a pully, bridge, raft, and sturdy house; make new friends through team projects and experiments focused on engineering, nanotechnology, and rockets as well as to design, build, and run their own store. We had about 100 kids involved in these wonderful programs.
In June, these SEMI camps were supplemented by a three-day summer community Welcome Back to Campus event that more than 200 people attended. Activities included making bubbles and Oobleck (A substance that mimics the qualities of both a liquid and a solid). It gets its name from the Dr. Seuss book Bartholomew and the Oobleck.) Participants also learned about density, electromagnetism, and Little Bits.
The number one question I received from community members last spring was: “When will Beach /Schmidt Performing Arts Center return to its original performing arts purpose?” To uphold safety standards during COVID last year, we canceled special events and repurposed the center as a classroom.
This summer, the performing arts made a triumphant return to the center. In addition to hosting several dance recitals, the return of the High Plains Music Camp this summer brought a lot of smiles and reassurance that we are “all in” in repopulating our campus.
Speaking of the High Plains Music Camp (HPMC), this great annual event returned to campus in July. More than 130 student musicians came to the camp. Campers came from across Kansas (Kansas City to Goodland, Pittsburg to Garden City, and more) plus Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, & Utah.
HPMC campers are student musicians who travel to campus and train with professional musicians for one week. The camper’s experience culminates in a performance they deliver at the conclusion of camp. Rising sixth and eighth-graders were offered a middle school band experience with the Tiger Band under the direction of Johannah Cox from Lawrence, Kansas. Mrs. Cox said this summer’s group was one of the best Tiger Bands we have hosted in years. This sentiment was expressed over and over in descriptions about the other HPMC ensembles and classes this summer.
HPMC faculty consisted of 46 music professionals and teachers in individual instruments from across the state of Kansas (including professional jazz musicians in Kansas City), as well as Florida, Mississippi, Missouri, and Utah. Camp faculty were supported by 16 counselors; camp librarians who helped prepare the music before and during camp; an equipment team who moved stands, chairs, and percussion equipment before, during, and after camp; and four interns who helped the camp director keep everything moving smoothly during the week.
For many campers, this was their first opportunity to be on a college campus. Besides working closely with the outstanding HPMC faculty and staff, campers enjoyed exploring the FHSU campus during the week. Stops at Starbucks in the Memorial Union were a highlight for many.
In addition to the return to campus summer activities I just covered, our fabulous Kansas Wetlands Education Center in Barton County hosted drop-in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) activities that offered a great opportunity for folks to walk through a water trailer. This is a mobile trailer that hosts a wealth of information and experiential learning opportunities for the curious, including stormwater issues in watersheds. Other activities included making and then eating an aquifer, discovering how much usable water is on our planet, and developing drone piloting skills while learning about drone use in water quality management and conservation. I especially loved the book launch event for “Ava: A Year of Adventure in the Life of an American Avocet.” An Avocet is a bird found in wetland habitats.
I was thrilled that our Sternberg Museum of Natural History was also able to return some of their summer camps to in-person experiences, including the Colorado Dinosaur experience and the Field Paleontology: Kansas camps. Last year I received the sweetest letter from a mom and dad of a summer camper that read in part, “My family can’t say enough good about the camps and the director, David Levering. I first found Sternberg and Fort Hays State University through a Facebook paleontology group when I was looking for a resident camp for my 12-year-old daughter… Living in rural northern Wisconsin, we knew our daughter would have to travel to get a quality paleontology education. The camp exceeded any expectations – she learned so much. Our daughter even started her own business in order to continue to pay for future camps…The growth and confidence we have seen in her is amazing.”
That letter meant so much to me. It demonstrated our educational reach and commitment to providing quality, engaging educational experiences. We educate the young, the traditionally aged, and adult learners. We inspire dreams, and for the 12-year-old in the letter above, we even kindled her entrepreneurial spirit. We exist to improve lives.
Our summer camps and conferences serve as an extension of our educational mission. This year they also helped create a sense of normalcy, and in a way, served as a “dress rehearsal” for a full return to all on-campus operations. We are excitedly ready and “all in” for the fall of 2021. Welcome home, Tigers.
Tisa Mason is president of Fort Hays State University.