From wacky sports to slime, students have fun at College 4 Kids

It is the beginning of summer which means the campus of Meridian Community College is swarming with youngsters as its annual two-week College 4 Kids summer program kicks into full swing.

From cake decorating to learning about animals to playing wacky sports to making fairy houses, students were spread out across campus Tuesday morning engaged in a wide variety of classes.

"We believe in the power of education and if students associate being educated with that being fun, then we think that's fantastic," said Brandon Dewease, MCC's associate dean of student engagement. "We want them to find joy in the things that they are learning about."

He also said it is a good way to introduce MCC to the students, especially if they have never been on the campus in the past.

"We also want to make sure that they are familiar with MCC. We want to bring them here and show them a fantastic time," he said. "We want to open their eyes to the opportunity that is right here in Meridian."

More than 600 children, ages 6 to 12, were expected to take part in either one or both weeks of College 4 Kids, which has taken place each summer at MCC for more than 20 years.

This year's schedule includes traditional favorites like "Painting with the Masters," "Cooking for Fun," and "Basketball," but also includes new classes like "Games Unplugged" and "Puppets with a Purpose."

"‘All About Animals’ always fills up. When you get to hold baby chickens, that is hard to beat," Dewease said. "Slime is so popular. Anything with sports is always popular. We are doing a Firefighter Academy this year that I think is an incredible connection with our community and those public servants."

The Games Unplugged class has drawn a number of children in its first year. Participants are playing old-fashioned board games and activities that do not involve an electronic device.

"Just like the name implies, it's games, but it is board games; things that don't include electronics," Dewease said, "just to disengage from the screen and to encourage students they can still have a really good time without an electronic device in their hands."

Sorry, UNO, Slap Jack, Rummy, Monopoly, Phase 10 and checkers, "Games Unplugged" instructor Lorie Anderson, who teaches chemistry at Lamar School, is introducing the students to all sorts of board games.

Anderson said she has had to teach some children how to play the games, but more students than she thought were already familiar with them.

"I have had to teach the rules to the ones who have never played before," she said, "but I’ve been more surprised that some of them do know the board games. As much as we think they only play with electronics, some of them do play board games."

Another new class that is actually a revision of a former crafts class is "Fairies, Flora and Fauna," and it has drawn a lot of fairy lovers this week.

"It is a new version of the craft class. We are making a fairy wonderland," said instructor BJ Hatten.

She said the students are involved in a full week of crafts, including painting fairy houses, making dragonflies, creating paper mosaics, and making moon drops from stained glass beads.

The second week of College 4 Kids will begin Monday and run through June 16.

While it is too late to register for this year's College 4 Kids classes, Dewease said it is never too soon to begin thinking about next year's event. Registration generally opens in April, and College 4 Kids is always the first two weeks of June.

There will be a limited number of community scholarships available for the summer program. Anyone interested should contact College 4 Kids staff before registration to see if they are eligible, he said.

Contact Glenda Sanders at [email protected].

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