Campers head to Baylor campus for summer fun and learning experience

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WACO, Texas (June 12, 2012)- Summer has arrived at Baylor University, and with it comes students arriving by the bus and car loads. Many of these elementary-to-high school aged students are looking to learn a new skill or sharpen a talent at one of the many camps offered throughout the summer.
Camps on campus started at the beginning of June and run through the end of the summer. There is a large selection of programs being offered, from sports such as basketball camps with Baylor head coaches Scott Drew and Kim Mulkey, baseball and volleyball camps to academic enrichment camps like debate camp and Innovate, a camp designed to give students interested in science, mathematics and technology an opportunity to explore engineering and computer science as a career.
Assistant Baylor Women's Basketball Coack Rekha Patterson described Kim Mulkey's basketball camps as a great way to bring students to the Baylor campus and learn new skills.
"We have all our coaching staff out there, our players and coaches from all different colleges, junior colleges and high schools helping. We've had campers from California to Virginia--and over 700 campers in two camps," Patterson explained.
Patterson said that her favorite part of camp is seeing the campers react.
"Seeing people getting to see Coach Mulkey, getting Brittney Griner's autograph and learning a new skill and using it in a game and being excited--those are my best experiences. I like to see them excited and learning," she said.
There is one more basketball camp led by Mulkey left--a day camp for students in the second through seventh grade that will run June 18 through 21 and will accept walk-up applications.
"Coach Mulkey could have cut it off, but it is still open and will take applications," Patterson said. "They [students] get an early impression of what Baylor has to offer, and that's so important. Just being on a college campus at a young age--it gives them something to look forward to."
Emily Sandvall, who serves as director of Innovate, said that the main goal of the camp is to help high school juniors learn more about the depth and breadth of the fields in engineering and computer sciences.
"They take an engineering course and a computer science course. They engage in lecture and lab - they are able to take what they have learned in the classroom and apply it in lab," Sandvall said. "In addition to the in the classroom learning that takes place, we help guide small group discussions about the college, the Baylor experience, the ECS experience and what it means to receive a liberal arts education."
Innovate is offered to students alongside Renaissance Scholars, which is targeted towards students with pre-health interests. The program offers a curriculum that addresses health in philosophical, scientific and religious contexts, medical ethics and Latin medical terminology and also gives students a seminar-style collegiate learning experience with professional guidance.
In addition to the athletic and academic camps, Baylor also offered its music camps--as it has for the past 30 years. There are programs for students participating in bands, orchestras and choirs, as well as students that would like to study piano, the pipe organ and the flute.
Those interested in seeing the extensive list of camps that Baylor offers are encouraged to browse the event services calendar, where you can search programs on a week by week basis, and learn more about what each has to offer.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian university and a nationally ranked research institution, classified as such with "high research activity" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The university provides a vibrant campus community for approximately 15,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating university in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 11 nationally recognized academic divisions.

by Mallory Hisler, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805