Schools

Donor Helps Students Discover Wonders of Science

Last year, 38 students took part in Camp Invention. This year, there are 106 thanks in part to a foundation that supports early exposure to science and math.

A weeklong science camp in Murrieta is serving triple the amount of students this year thanks to matching scholarships.

The II-VI Foundation, a nationwide foundation whose mission is to encourage and enable students to pursue a career in engineering, science and mathematics, paid $140 of the $245 camp fee for 87 students.

"Our goal for next year will be 100 students," said Eric Kofmehl, program manager for the foundation's Early Education Initiative.

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The foundation supports similar camps in Pennsylvania, Texas, Ohio and now Murrieta, according to Kofmehl. The organization is backed by a businessman whose company has a branch in Murrieta, but who wished to remain anonymous.

Camp Invention is in full force this week at Buchanan Elementary School, and has attracted students from all over the valley. Last year, 38 students took part in the camp. This year, there are 106, and organizers and campers alike are loving it.

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"We would be watching TV, sitting around being lazy, so this is better for us," said soon-to-be sixth-grader Jillian Needle, 11.

Her parents signed her up for the camp alongside her neighbor and best friend, Brynn Marsh, also 11.

This week, the pair is working on inventing their own Rube-Goldberg inspired machines, which they will invite their parents to witness on Friday.

Jillian explained that they were encouraged to bring recycled products from home to build their machine, such as toilet paper rolls.

"We are mapping it out now," she said. "We should be done by Friday."

Campers rotate through a total of five stations a day. Each is taught by a credentialed teacher. Stations include W!LD: Wondrous Innovations and Living Designs, The Curious Cypher Club, Bounce! An Atomic Journey, Game On: Power Play and I Can Invent: Edison's Workshop.

Camp Director, Pat Beal, is a recently retired high school science teacher. She began Camp Invention in Murrieta four years ago. The trademarked curriculum keeps the elementary-aged campers engaged while making science fun, she said.

"We emphasis the standards," Beal said. "What we are trying to do here for a week is teach them problem solving, hands-on science and that science can be fun."

Jan Strockis, a substitute teacher in the Murrieta Valley Unified School District, has returned to work at the camp year after year.

"It is very well-organized. They give you more than enough to do to get the kids stimulated," Strockis said.

Beal has seen the camp grow, and sought to get more kids involved in this year's camp. That is when she wrote a letter to the II-IV Foundation. Not only did they step up this year, they have agreed to remain involved in the yearly camp.

"We can make this local," Kofmehl said. "Our goal in the next few years is to have a one-week overnight camp for junior high kids."

Because the camp is for children in first through fifth grade, those who have gone through the camp in prior years often come back to volunteer as junior counselors. Families from Murrieta, Temecula, Menifee and as far away as Loma Linda return to the camp year after year.

Beal grew up on a farm, and looking back, sees how science relates to managing a farm.

"My grandpa used to rotate the crops, and he would explain to us why he did it," Beal said. "As a kid, this is what I felt good about.

"This camp gives kids a dilemma and asks them to solve it."


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