Photographer: Lauren BowersParticipants of the Kids on Campus summer camp enjoy the day.

For much of June, Ohio University’s Grover Center was transformed into an amazing campground for more than 200 students from area school districts.

The 2018 Kids on Campus Summer Camp packed a variety of activities into three weeks’ worth of educational fun and excitement. Usually spread over about five or six weeks, the new time frame was necessary due to the end of some grant funding. This made the camp experience more intense and also a lot of fun, according to Jo Ellen Sherow, program manager of Kids on Campus.

“Our theme was ‘The Best Summer Ever.’ I really think we lived up to that. I think it really was the best summer ever,” she said. “We had lots of very interesting, new and fun activities. I think we significantly raised the bar.”

Many of the programs this year were structured around oceanography. Age-specific activities were included as younger children created aquariums of candy while older students worked to build realistic terrariums. Along with traditional science experiments such as making volcanoes, students had a hands-on experience using a tracker to trace the movements of a person throughout the College of Health Sciences and Professions in a method similar to that of a scientist tracking a whale through the ocean.

Through a continued partnership with the Athens County Board of Developmental Disabilities, an integrated summer camp was held once more at Beacon School for two weeks in June and two weeks in July to serve those who use the board’s services.   

“The feedback we received was really good this summer and the kids had a lot of fun,” said Sherow. “I think our biggest success was pulling together an amazing program in a short period of time. The kids had an enormous amount of fun.”