BHSU offers summer camps for elementary, middle, and high school students

Woman holding camera and taking photo of someone taking a photo

This summer, Black Hills State University will offer several daytime academic summer camps that will give students the opportunity to learn from expert faculty and experienced business professionals in the areas of STEM, Photography, Youth Entrepreneurship and Creative Writing.    

The BHSU Photography Summer Camp is set for June 21-24 from 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. for high school students. Participants will have the opportunity to experience a variety of photography processes. BHSU Professor Skott Chandler explains, “The course will start with pinhole cameras then move into 35mm film and basic darkroom. The final day the students will use digital cameras and get to make photos in the state-of-the-art BHSU photography studio.”

Camp Invention Recharge 2021, a summer learning opportunity for K-5 students is scheduled for June 21-25. Developed by the National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF), Camp Invention is a STEM enrichment program that provides children with hands-on/minds-on opportunities to explore, create, and invent in relevant ways that will help prepare them to one day change the world.  This summer, Camp Invention is titled Recharge! Camp co-director Sydney Haugland notes that project-based learning a beneficial instructional strategy in the classroom and it is a fun way to continue learning during the summer as well! Haugland along with Ashtin Griffee, Spearfish public educator and BHSU alumna, are co-directors. Several BHSU students, who are future educators, will help teach and facilitate the Camp’s engaging and innovate modules.

The Youth Entrepreneurship Program will be July 6-9 from 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. for high school students. This program immerses high schoolers in the world of entrepreneurship, making ideas real, and solving problems. BHSU School of Business Chair Jeff Wehrung said, “Students will share ideas, determine their customers, create a prototype, figure out how to make money, and create a final pitch to show off their work. Mentors will be involved throughout the week to guide students, challenge them, and bring out their best.”  Hill City entrepreneur Brian Ruppert, who will facilitate the camp, added that “YEP will create the next generation of problem solvers by giving students the opportunity to learn by doing while they turn their ideas into reality.”

The BHSU Creative Writing Summer Camp is July 13-16 for ages 10-17 is designed to for “the budding young Shakespeare or blossoming Emily Dickinson.” BHSU Professor Karl Lehman encourages participants to “Bring a notebook and learn to daydream like a pro, brainstorm a bestseller, answer the riddle of What if?, and chase your muse across page after page as we pen poetry, scribble scripts, and tell tall tales to explore the secrets of the writing craft."  

Class size is limited for each summer camp. For more information visit www.bhsu.edu/SummerCamps