Gifted Atlanta

If you have a teen who’s interested in digital media and the Atlanta scene, take a look at VOX Media Cafe. This three-week summer program gives teens ages 13-19 the chance to explore the city while learning about electronic journalism, including videography, photography, interactive media, writing and reporting.

Instructors come from local media organizations such as CNN/Turner Broadcasting, WABE and the AJC.

Each three-week session will enroll only 16 teens, enabling a hands-on, immersion experience.

VOX has been around since the 1990s, publishing an independent newspaper written by teens from around metro Atlanta. The summer program started in 2011.

Applications are now online for the camp and for scholarships to attend.

Mercer Youth Programs give rising 1st-8th graders summer enrichment in math, science and creative writing at four Mercer University campuses.

“College for Kids” and “Youth University” are intended for children who want a challenge working beyond grade level. The camps have a morning session and an afternoon session. Children may take just one class to create a half-day camp, or choose both a morning and an afternoon class to construct a full-day camp.

Students are grouped by grade level, with different themes for each age.

These summer youth programs are offered at the Atlanta and Macon university campuses, as well as at the Douglas County and Henry County Regional Academic Centers.

Note: Science camps are open to rising 3rd-8th graders only, and are not offered at the Atlanta campus. However, the Atlanta campus hosts the Emagination technology camp, featuring workshops in robotics, computer programming, and digital art, open to kids ages 8 to 17.

For those who live in the Carrollton area, the University of West Georgia is offering a series of week-long summer camps for rising kindergarteners through rising seventh graders. Most of the camps are half-day, but they are extremely affordable, starting at just $50 per week.

The camp flyer (PDF) lists all the available sessions, which include LEGO Robotics, wolves, and lots of STEM sessions. Registration is open now.

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Midtown is offering its first ever summer camps for children.

Kids ages 5 to 10 can take part in Arts Exploration Camp, while older kids, ages 11 to 17, are invited to Arts Immersion Camp. Each is a two-week camp, meeting from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m daily. Each day, the students will be introduced to a new medium and given time to create.

Spaces are limited.

Mercer University’s Atlanta campus offers a three-day summer program this July to introduce high-school students to pharmacy and pharmaceutical science.

The Pharmacy Scholars Summer Program is open to rising sophomores, juniors and seniors. The program is led by Mercer faculty and students, as well as working pharmacists. In a mix of workshops and labs, students will learn about compounding, drug information, patient care, pharmacy careers, and what’s required to apply to a pharmacy school.

Tuition is $150. Financial assistance may be available to qualified families.

Deadline to apply is April 30, 2014.

Cambridge International School at Buckhead is offering a series of one-week summer camps for preschoolers and younger elementary school students.

This prep-school / preschool follows the theory of multiple intelligences, and it shows in the variety of their camp themes. Camp weeks focus on everything from the kinesthetic (cheerleading and maker/builder weeks) to linguistic (Portugese and Spanish) to the interpersonal and intrapersonal (happiness week).

The camps are open to children from ages 2 1/2 to 8.

Ivy Bridge Academy is offering week-long debate camps throughout June and July for rising 4th through 12th graders.

For elementary-age students, the camps focus on the basics of public speaking and research. The middle-school camp is designed for students with some debate experience and delves deeper into the foundations of formal debate. High-schoolers work on advanced skills in competitive debate.