Jul. 11, 2005
Media Tipsheet
George Mason University’s more than 70 day camp programs span from academic to athletic proving that there are select kids looking for more out of their summer days than popsicle birdhouses. Their summer memories will include completing economic experiments for cash prizes; or how an emergency room springs into action; or how to get the most bang for their buck through proper money management. George Mason would like to invite you to meet some of the children and learn more about the camps.
Nationally Renowned Forensics Coach Teaches Students the Art of the Spoken Word
Calling forensics a “surging art” attracting a half million U.S. high school, community college and university students every year, Peter Pober is poised to launch George Mason University’s first-ever forensics summer camp (July 23-August 7). Despite its “new camp status,” enrollment is topping 100 high school students from 22 states and the District of Columbia – a testament to Director Pober’s strong reputation in the field and the success of Mason’s own forensics team, placing 9th this past year at the national tournament.
Pober praises the camp’s diversity by saying, “Thanks to programs targeted to inner city schools and scholarships, opportunities in forensics for those less privileged are available now more than ever. With diversity comes exposure to new ideas and topics in literature, benefiting all attendees.”
Finance Smart-Money Budget Camp for Kids
The explorations of personal money management from July 18-22 with children in grades fourth through sixth include a thorough use of spreadsheets and a primer on checkbook management. Taking a cue from “The Apprentice,” one experiment incorporates the children setting up their own businesses, including taking out a business loan to purchase inventory and seeing who can make the biggest profit.
“Teaching these children budgeting through real life examples will serve as the foundation for understanding the value of a dollar and developing money smart kids,” said Melanie Szulczewski, director.
Learning and Earning: Economics in the 21st Century
The Vernon L. Smith* High School Workshops in Experimental Economics is a teenager’s version of how learning should happen—you get paid for it. The camp’s workshops are based on Professor Smith’s Nobel Prize winning teaching methods for economics and Ben Franklin’s famous quote “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”
This camp, offered from July 11-15, 18-22 and 25-29, explores the foundations of economic analysis using experimental economics with cash rewards. High school students can earn two college credit units, in addition to a little cash. (*Smith was the winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences)
Nursing Camp Gives Youths Opportunity to Experience Life in the ER
Responding to NoVa HealthFORCE’s launch initiative to help stem the rising nursing workforce shortage, George Mason University and Inova Health Systems are teaming up to offer a Nursing Exploration Summer Camp for students in grades six, seven and eight. The camp will give students an exciting, up-close look at life as a nurse and will be held from July 11-15 in Falls Church, VA.
Bullying and Marketing: How NOT to Be Manipulated by the Media
New Horizons Camp is designed to enhance campers’ critical thinking about popular culture including TV sitcoms, movies, sports, fashion and celebrity hysteria and to not accept that what you see is always real. The fifth through eighth graders from July 11-15 will also work on leadership and team building skills and how to handle a bullying situation at school.
###