A\nsense of excitement is growing as we are days away from the start of the fall semester\nand a new academic year. Ripples of hope are flowing throughout the campus as\nwe prepare to initiate welcome back activities like a long-awaited family\nreunion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\nare ready. We return with a restored sense of confidence following many highly\nsuccessful summer camps and conferences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Summer\nathletic camps brought much joy and hard work for nearly 1,300 youngsters eager\nto develop their skills in football, women\u2019s soccer, wrestling, volleyball, and\nmen\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For\nthose looking for a bit more of a cerebral experience, our fabulous and highly\nengaging Science and Mathematics Education Institute (SEMI) hosted summer camps\nfor students in grades 2-8. A variety of camp options allowed these youngsters\nto learn to build, program, and test LEGO robots using LEGO EV3 software; to\nexpand upon their engineering knowledge by constructing a pully, bridge, raft,\nand sturdy house; make new friends through team projects and experiments\nfocused on engineering, nanotechnology, and rockets as well as to design,\nbuild, and run their own store. We had about 100 kids involved in these\nwonderful programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In June,\nthese SEMI camps were supplemented by a three-day summer community Welcome Back\nto Campus event that more than 200 people attended. Activities included making\nbubbles and Oobleck (A substance that mimics the qualities of both a liquid and\na solid). It gets its name from the Dr. Seuss book Bartholomew and the Oobleck<\/em>.) Participants also learned about\ndensity, electromagnetism, and Little Bits. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n The number\none question I received from community members last spring was: \u201cWhen will\nBeach \/Schmidt Performing Arts Center return to its original performing arts\npurpose?\u201d To uphold safety standards during COVID last year, we canceled\nspecial events and repurposed the center as a classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This\nsummer, the performing arts made a triumphant return to the center. In addition\nto hosting several dance recitals, the return of the High Plains Music Camp\nthis summer brought a lot of smiles and reassurance that we are \u201call in\u201d in\nrepopulating our campus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking\nof the High Plains Music Camp (HPMC), this great annual event returned to campus\nin July. More than 130 student musicians came to the camp. Campers came from\nacross Kansas (Kansas City to Goodland, Pittsburg to Garden City, and more) plus\nColorado, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, & Utah. <\/p>\n\n\n\n HPMC\ncampers are student musicians who travel to campus and train with professional\nmusicians for one week. The camper\u2019s experience culminates in a performance they\ndeliver at the conclusion of camp. Rising sixth and eighth-graders were offered\na middle school band experience with the Tiger Band under the direction of\nJohannah Cox from Lawrence, Kansas. Mrs. Cox said this summer\u2019s group was one\nof the best Tiger Bands we have hosted in years. This sentiment was expressed over and over in\ndescriptions about the other HPMC ensembles and classes this summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n HPMC faculty\nconsisted of 46 music professionals and teachers in individual instruments from\nacross the state of Kansas (including professional jazz musicians in Kansas\nCity), as well as Florida, Mississippi, Missouri, and Utah. Camp faculty were supported\nby 16 counselors; camp librarians who helped prepare the music before and\nduring camp; an equipment team who moved stands, chairs, and percussion equipment\nbefore, during, and after camp; and four interns who helped the camp director\nkeep everything moving smoothly during the week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For many\ncampers, this was their first opportunity to be on a college campus. Besides\nworking closely with the outstanding HPMC faculty and staff, campers enjoyed\nexploring the FHSU campus during the week. \nStops at Starbucks in the Memorial Union were a highlight for many. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In\naddition to the return to campus summer activities I just covered, our fabulous\nKansas Wetlands Education Center in Barton County hosted drop-in science,\ntechnology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) activities that offered a great\nopportunity for folks to walk through a water trailer. This is a mobile trailer\nthat hosts a wealth of information and experiential learning opportunities for\nthe curious, including stormwater issues in watersheds. Other activities\nincluded making and then eating an aquifer, discovering how much usable water\nis on our planet, and developing drone piloting skills while learning about\ndrone use in water quality management and conservation. I especially loved the book\nlaunch event for \u201cAva: A Year of Adventure in the Life of an American Avocet.\u201d An\nAvocet is a bird found in wetland habitats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I was\nthrilled that our Sternberg Museum of Natural History was also able to return\nsome of their summer camps to in-person experiences, including the Colorado\nDinosaur experience and the Field Paleontology: Kansas camps. Last year I\nreceived the sweetest letter from a mom and dad of a summer camper that read in\npart, \u201cMy family can\u2019t say enough good\nabout the camps and the director, David Levering. I first found Sternberg and\nFort Hays State University through a Facebook paleontology group when I was\nlooking for a resident camp for my 12-year-old daughter\u2026 Living in rural\nnorthern Wisconsin, we knew our daughter would have to travel to get a quality\npaleontology education. The camp exceeded any expectations \u2013 she learned so\nmuch. Our daughter even started her own business in order to continue to pay\nfor future camps\u2026The growth and confidence we have seen in her is amazing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n That\nletter meant so much to me. It demonstrated our educational reach and\ncommitment to providing quality, engaging educational experiences. We educate\nthe young, the traditionally aged, and adult learners. We inspire dreams, and\nfor the 12-year-old in the letter above, we even kindled her entrepreneurial\nspirit. We exist to improve lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 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 \u201cdress rehearsal\u201d for a full return to all on-campus operations. We are excitedly ready and \u201call in\u201d for the fall of 2021. Welcome home, Tigers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tisa Mason is president of Fort Hays State University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A sense of excitement is growing as we are days away from the start of the fall semester and a new academic year. 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