Gifted Atlanta

Continuing today’s theme of camps that aren’t all about math and science, Margaret Mitchell House will offer seven different writing camps this summer for children ages 10-14.

Each week-long camp focuses on a genre or technique. Examples include mystery, science fiction, playwriting and critique.

Registration is open now.

With all the math and science camps I’ve been writing about lately, it’s nice to see some options for kids who are more interested in liberal arts.

Summer camps at the Atlanta History Center in Buckhead will cover such topics as early American history, the 1940s and 1950s, historic innovations and the Civil War. Ages vary from preschool to rising middle-school.

Just a few hours ago, Georgia Tech posted the much anticipated schedule for its 2011 CEISMC summer camps.

The week-long camps are open to rising middle- and high-school students. Topics include space and rocketry, civil engineering, LEGO Mindstorms, architecture, building a hovercraft, and designing apps for mobile phones, along with a few others.

Review the list, make up your mind and mark your calendar — the application will be posted on Tuesday, March 1, at noon.

CEISMC, the Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing, is a Georgia Tech program to give children enrichment opportunities in math, science, technology and engineering. In addition to its summer programs, CEISMC offers classes during the school year through its K.I.D.S. Club.

Georgia State University has announced the theme for its 2011 Saturday School for Scholars and Leaders summer day camp: movie making.

The camp is open to rising K – 8th graders. Younger campers (rising K-4) will spend their time learning to develop a script and perform it. The older students (rising 5-8) will learn the technical aspects of production and direction.

The one-week camp will be held from May 31 to June 4, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. It is housed on the downtown campus of GSU.

Saturday School at GSU is one of the longest running programs for the gifted in the Atlanta area. It is open to students who are in a formal gifted program or who have qualifying scores on any of a variety of ability and achievement tests. Children may be granted “provisional admission” to the program for one year until their scores can be submitted to GSU.

Kids who want to explore the world of medicine can get a closer look by attending the one-week Mini Medical School camp at the University of Georgia this June.

Open to ages 11-15, Mini Medical School teaches campers how to give a basic exam, read an X-ray and perform a mock surgery.

Campers have the choice of taking Mini Medical School as a day camp (8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) or an overnight camp.

UGA is offering a registration discount if you sign up by March 15, 2011. The camp’s information page warns that this is one of the most popular UGA camps, so early registration is advised.

Other camps offered at UGA this summer will include animation, aviation, forensics, plant sciences, film, web design and more. The complete list with links to more information can be found at the Summer Academy Camps page.

In researching yesterday’s post, I came across Pace Academy’s summer camp information. The school is offering a number of specialty camps that might be just right for children with interests off the beaten path.

Some of the camps that will be offered in 2011 are:

• Camp Invention
• Chess
• Theater
• Dance
• Fencing
• Robotics

The ages accepted vary — some camps accept students as young as 6 (rising 1st graders); others are intended for those in middle and high school.

Registration is open now.

The Emory National Debate Institute has released its schedule of summer programs for 2011, with programs for rising 6th graders and up.

For rising middle-school students (entering 6th, 7th or 8th grade), Emory is holding a two-week camp at Pace Academy.

Rising high-school students can choose from several programs on the Emory campus. Choices include a two-week camp, recommended for rising freshmen and those who are new to debate; a four-week institute for rising sophomores; and six-week institutes for rising juniors and seniors.

In all camps, students will focus on key elements of debate, including research, analysis and public speaking.

Registration for the high-school programs will close on April 1, 2011.

The Savannah College for Art and Design (SCAD) is now taking applications for its summer programs, ranging from art camps for younger kids to intensive art instruction for high-school students.

Rising 10th, 11th and 12th graders can apply to the SCAD Summer Seminar, which will offer two, one-week sessions at the Atlanta campus. Each student selects two workshops to attend for the week, in topics such as painting,  drawing, fashion or storytelling. The workshops provide a combination of instruction and hands-on studio time. Students can choose to live on campus, or not. The application deadline is May 1, but workshop spaces are granted on a first-come, first-served basis, so it’s better to apply earlier.

For rising seniors, SCAD offers Rising Star, a five-week, residential program held at the college’s Savannah campus. In this highly selective program, students take two, college-level courses for which they can earn college credit. Class choices include drawing, computer art, architecture and photography. The application deadline is April 15.

Students ages 7-14 can attend Art Smarts, week-long art camps which will be held on the campus of the Galloway School in the Buckhead / North Atlanta area. (UPDATE 4/17/14: The Art Smarts program has been discontinued.)

A limited number of scholarships are available for summer programs. See SCAD’s Summer at SCAD brochure for more details.