On Campus
Camps provide students clinical practice, enrich school-age students
“More than 150 school-age children are excited to return to school with new math, reading, creative problem-solving and critical thinking skills stowed in their ‘backpacks’ because of their summer experience at Muskingum University,” according to Nancy Bradley, director of Graduate Teacher Education at Muskingum University, where JumpStart, an accelerated intervention specialist program, and the gifted intervention specialist endorsement camps recently concluded.
The JumpStart program was created in 2004 to meet the Ohio Department of Education’s “hard to staff” areas of instruction. In 2013, Jumpstart was cited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) as a “Program of Excellence” at Muskingum. The success of the program has led to its expansion into the Canton/Akron and Columbus areas.
According to Bradley, the camps create a special relationship, benefiting both regional educators and school-age students. The two-week camp experience not only serves as an educational resource for young students to get a jumpstart on the upcoming school year, but also fulfills the clinical practice required for educators to earn their credentials, she explained.
Marla Hawthorne, coordinator of JumpStart added that “the innovative nature of the curriculum is essential to a successful camp experience. The participating candidates actually develop and design the camp.” Talented and Gifted Program Coordinator Susan Larson explained that “the goal is to have students leave camp empowered to be who they are, where they are.”
“These summer programs build upon Muskingum’s historical strengths in all areas of teacher preparation for practicing educators and initial licensure candidates,” added Bradley. For more information about programs, contact Bradley at 740-826-8038 or at nbradley@muskingum.edu.
