Camp Invention comes to J.S. Waters

Posted Saturday, June 21, 2008

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Goldston, NC - Twenty-five students from across Chatham County participated in Camp Invention at J.S. Waters School in Goldston from June 16—20. Students from Bennett, Bonlee, Horton, J.S. Waters, Pittsboro Elementary, Siler City Elementary, and Silk Hope came to the camp.

The students were divided into two groups, the cubs for grades one through three and the bears for grades four through six. The groups rotated between two classroom settings. The camp director was Robbie Sirls, a staff member at J.S. Waters.

Teacher April Woody and her camp counselor Heather Phillips hosted the Planet Zak portion of the camp. The campers had landed on Planet Zak and had to find ways to return home safely. Part of their activities for the week included building a spaceship and space suits in small groups. One of their safety-related activities was to make a device that would not burst a water balloon.

Teacher Cindy Shaw and camp counselor Ashley Hendrickson hosted the I Can Invent portion of the camp. On Tuesday the students took apart old equipment donated by parents like a breadmaker, VCR, and radio. On Wednesday they used the parts to create their own inventions.

The camp also had daily features that included a crazy hat day on Tuesday during which students used recyclable materials to create hats and a crazy hair day on Wednesday.

The camp culminated with an inventor's Showcase on Friday afternoon, June 20.

The Camp Invention program fosters creativity, teamwork, inventive-thinking skills and science literacy. Throughout each day, children will participate in hands-on, interactive activities that encourage creativity and inventive solutions. The program was created in 1990 by the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation, and receives support from the United States Patent and Trademark Office.