We have bright, motivated campers at Camp Emerson who are interested in many different activities. They like hands-on, intellectual challenges too but they don’t want it to be like school. The Step Beyond activities grew out of our desire to satisfy these interests and to spark new ones. We think you will find some exciting and challenging classes in this list of Step Beyond activities for this summer. Mix and match them in your schedule with all of the other areas and create a schedule as unique as you are!
Babysitting Certification (up) The American Red Cross certifies girls and boys as babysitters through a comprehensive course about childcare, safety and first aid. Any age camper can take the class. If you are 11 or older, you will be able to get the official certificate. This is a desirable program for anyone who plans on earning money as a babysitter.
CO2 Race Cars (up) Imagine creating a pine wood derby car and then attaching a jet engine to it. That is what you get with this cool class. Design, build & race your own metric dragster. Race it on our 65 foot computerized track and see where your car stands. These CO2 powered cars are rocket fast.
Cooking (up) Develop your culinary skills with this fun, hands-on and delicious activity. We cover kitchen safety, health, nutrition, and various cooking and baking techniques. Prepare a variety of dishes including desserts, soups, main courses, sushi and sauces. Work with professional chefs in our 5000 square foot state-of-the-art, commercial kitchen.
Creative Writing (up) Make this what you want – poetry, screenplay, journal, short story, animated novel – your choice. We will be producing a weekly magazine with the digital photography and graphic design class. Bring what you’re working on to camp.
Forensic Science (up) You arrive at the scene surrounded by yellow caution tape, put on the latex gloves, collect evidence and help solve a mock crime. Learn how to analyze fingerprints, fluids, foot prints, hair and other physical evidence. This is way cool.
Game Lab (up) During this class, we play and evaluate games of all kinds - board games, dice games, card games, strategy games, & trivia games – some you may never have seen before. If you have a game you've designed, pack it up and bring it for testing. Camp Emerson is an official game testing site for several game companies.
Magic (up) Slight of hand, card tricks, cups and balls, coins, ropes, rings, and performance tips. Surprise your friends and impress your parents. Our magician lets you in on some of the industries great illusions.
Electronics (up) Learn the principles of electronics using circuit boards, resistors, transistors, and soldering to create units like listening devices and metal detectors. Design and program your own autonomous robot using sensors, motors, gears and microprocessors. Then in small teams, you’ll construct a larger programmable bot, use a computer to teach it to move and react.
Movie Making and Animation (up) We write, shoot and edit our own digital films including the use of blue-screen. Campers are instructed on how to use all of the equipment and then they are off on production. FLASH animation and other advanced techniques are utilized for editing.
Rocketry (up) A major favorite at Emerson with girls and boys of all ages! Part engineering and part craft. You will construct and build your own propulsion rocket. Many, many kits to pick from. Launchings are a sight to behold.
Weather (up) Get serious about cirrus clouds (and cumulus and stratus clouds too). The Emerson Storm Team monitors the weather station, related weather equipment and prepares the daily camp weather report. You’ll learn about extreme weather and track systems around the world. Do you have the weather bug?
