The University of Illinois Springfield hosts academic summer camps each year to help area high school students explore career options, gain practical skills through hands-on learning and have an unforgettable summer experience.
All of our camps start on the grounds of the university, taught by our world-class faculty and using our first-rate facilities. Many offer opportunities to go further afield. This year, we are visiting everything from radio studios to home simulation classrooms to the halls of government. Explore our camps below and sign up at go.uis.edu/summercamps.
“Big Problems, Big Ideas: Civic Engagement and Leadership Camp,” June 11-13
Explore social issues with other passionate future leaders. Dig into the root causes of some of our most challenging community and public policy problems and participate in discussions about key topics led by experts. By the end of camp, you will be able to navigate the public policy and civic action arena with enhanced knowledge and skills.
Instructors: Molly Lamb, Jill Hawkins, Anne Mosley, Randy Eccles, Joan Sestak
“NPR Illinois/UIS Journalism and Podcasting Camp,” June 17-21
With deep fakes, misinformation and hidden agendas spreading online, how can audiences know what the real story actually is? The answer: Credible journalism. Join the High School Journalism and Podcasting Camp this summer to develop your reporting skills and share stories from your community. You will learn news writing, interviewing and editing skills with UIS journalism faculty and NPR Illinois staff members, and then you'll talk with newsmakers around Springfield to produce stories that will air on the radio. Full and partial scholarships are available for students in need. The camp is presented with support from the Illinois Press Foundation and NPR Illinois.
Instructors: Jason Piscia, Ann Strahle, Randy Eccles, Beatrice Bonner, Vanessa Ferguson
“Ramanujan's Master Class,” July 9-11
Step into the world of mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920), a self-taught mathematician who solved problems then considered unsolvable and made substantial contributions to the theory of numbers. In this camp, we will explore some of Ramanujan's theorems and ideas that were later recognized for their extraordinary depth and originality. This is a perfect camp for high-school students who have a strong interest in STEM.
Instructor: Hei-Chi Chan
“Crime Scene Investigation,” July 10-11
Join UIS Crime Scene Investigation for an unforgettable two-day, hands-on experience of the exciting world of crime scenes, including interviewing victims and potential suspects. Students will develop forensic skills in evidence collection including fingerprinting and blood analysis, all while solving real-world problems that you would come across in the field. This is a great camp for high-school students interested in discovering science and human behavior through a lens of criminal justice and medical lab sciences.
Instructors: Staff from the Alliance for Experiential Problem-Based Learning Child Advocacy Studies
“Data and Business Analytics Camp for High Schoolers,” Aug. 5-9
Attention, future business leaders! Interested in learning how Apple uses data to create new, innovative products like the Apple Vision Pro? Join the Data and Business Analytics Camp this summer and get to know the world of data. Solve real-world business problems using data and statistical analyses (descriptive, correlation, t-test and prediction). Enroll today to become a future business data analytics and statistics expert!
Instructors: Shipra Gupta and Yuan Wen
Our summer camps result from faculty enthusiasm. Each camp is proposed, created, designed and taught by UIS faculty. They take their interests and turn them into experiences lasting anywhere from two to five days, giving learners a focused education on a singular topic. It’s a chance for high schoolers to dive into something new and explore areas they might not have experienced before.
These camps are unique in the Springfield area. Not only do they offer local high schoolers a chance to learn from the remarkable faculty of UIS about their interests, but they also present students with hands-on learning opportunities. Our camps emphasize a connection to real experts, real people, real problems and real experiences. Meeting real local leaders and officials or taking a crack at the actual skills used by everyone from journalists to forensic scientists helps our students come away from the camp with a deeper understanding of the topic grounded in practice.
UIS has a mission focused on student-centered education and active learning. Our summer camps are another part of that mission - a way for our community to learn in new and exciting ways. Sign up your high school students today at go.uis.edu/summercamps to give them a summer experience they’ll never forget.
Jacob House is an instructional development specialist for continuing and professional education at the University of Illinois Springfield.
