DCCCD Colleges Offer Summer Fun, Classes for Kids

Now that school’s out and kids are home, everyone’s looking for something to do. Several colleges in the Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD) have the answer: summer classes and summer fun for tykes and teens alike.

Six DCCCD colleges are offering summer programs through their offices of continuing education.  Fees and dates vary, so check the websites or call the phone numbers listed below for each college that’s offering summer programs for kids.

Brookhaven College – Carrollton/Farmers Branch

Brookhaven College’s summer youth program is back by popular demand – a program that’s packed with fun-filled courses that make learning an adventure.  Four sessions are offered, and each features a different set of classes for different age groups.  Courses include: art – “Super Hero Cartooning” and “Just Add Water,” both for ages 7-13; writing – “Creative Writing: Tell a Tale of Mystery, Sci-Fi, Manga or Horror” and “Creative Writing: Short Stories,” both for ages 8-12; leadership – “Future Leaders,” ages 11-14; Photoshop – “Digital Photography Using Photoshop,” ages 8-12; test preparation – “SAT/ACT Test Preparation,” juniors and seniors only; and theater – “Theatre for Youth,” ages 8-12.

Registration is under way.  Parents can register in person in the college’s admissions office or by phone at 972-860-4715 (please have course information ready and a valid credit card).  All students must complete the Continuing Education Registration Form which is available on campus or online; they also must complete a DCCCD Minor Student Form and photo release form.  Forms are available at www.brookhavencollege.edu under Youth Programs.

Cedar Valley College – Lancaster

Cedar Valley College offers summer camps that focus on fun, learning and kids. Offerings – which are geared toward specific age groups – include: “App Attack” (mobile app design); “Understanding the Math Connection” (exploring through games, puzzles and group activities); “Making the Connection in Algebra I”; “Code Breakers” (for future coders, programmers and designers); “Young Entrepreneurs Dishing Out Business (create your own new enterprise); “Inspiring Young Entrepreneurs” (for the younger crowd of future business owners); “Basketball Skills Camp” (for boys); and “Soccer Camp” (for boys and girls).

Dates and ages vary for specific camps, which are scheduled from June 27 through Aug. 5; costs range from $50 to $126 for most activities. For information and registration, contact the Cedar Valley College office of continuing education at 972-860-0816.  For details about the summer camps – classes, dates, times and cost – visit www.CedarValleyCollege.edu/ContinuingEducation and look under “2016 Summer Youth Camps.” For more information or registration, call 972-860-2995.

Eastfield College – Mesquite

Eastfield’s new Camp Harvey, designed to cultivate community leaders, is an organic, inventive and stimulating learning experience for youths from ages 7 to 11, 11 to 14 and 14 to 17. Kids will learn through fun, creative and intuitive themes of a STEAM-BASED curriculum (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics).

Sessions and STEAM themes will include: “The Lego Series” (three camps); “The Minecraft Series” (two camps); “Video Game Odyssey”; “Code Breakers”; “Youth Soccer Clinics”; “Make Your First 3D Video Game”; “Easy and Fun Programming Using Raspberry Pi”; “Junior Forensics CSI Academy”; “Engineering for Life”; “Fashioning Circuits”; “Advanced Acting and Theater Technology Camp”; “Art and Drama”; “That’s a Wrap!” (film making); “5-Day Poetry Camp”; “Dallas Trumpet Workshop”; “Little Mozart’s Piano Camp”; and “Youth Swimming Clinics.”

Sessions are half day or full day, based on the specific topic, and camps are scheduled by age and by date. Half-day sessions range in cost from $150 to $250, and full-day camp sessions are $300. Youth soccer and swimming clinics are half days for $85. Registration fee covers the cost of breakfast and lunch. For information about Camp Harvey at Eastfield College this summer, visit www.eastfieldcollege.edu/campharvey; to register, call the college’s continuing education office at 972-860-7263. For more information, call 972-860-7114.

Mountain View College – Dallas/Oak Cliff

The 2016 FUNtastic Summer Kids Program at Mountain View College offers fun-filled classes in broad areas such as academics (reading/writing/math camp); art (creating comics for ages 13-16, a dramatics class for 5^th through 8^th graders, plus graffiti art for ages 13-16, and ballet); “Fastforward Kids Lego” ( Lego Designer, Lego Expert, Lego Logo and Lego Mania) for different age groups; Summer Stars (a summer stock theater experience, with auditions) and guitar, gymnastics/tumbling and soccer camps, too. Prices range from $40 to $150; dates and ages for each camp varies, too.

Swimming lessons will be offered for children ages 6 months to 17 years; each session, which costs $70, is five days.  Lessons begin the first week of June and run through the first week of August.  In June, MVC’s athletics department will offer a football camp (June 13-17 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.); a boys’ basketball camp (June 6-10 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.); and a girls’ basketball camp (June 13-17 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.).

Parents can register their children either in person or by phone.  For registration on campus, visit the continuing education admissions window on the second level of the Student Services Building (Duncanville Road entrance).  Registration fees can be paid by cash or check as well as by credit or debit card on Monday and Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and from Wednesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.  To register by phone, call the Mountain View College continuing education office at 214-860-8835; credit cards only for phone registration.  To view the brochure with detailed dates, times and age groups for classes, go to www.mountainviewcollege.edu; click on Continuing Education, Youth Programs, to find FUNtastic Education for Youth. Space is limited, and classes are filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

North Lake College – Irving

This summer, children in grades 2 through 7 can spend some time at the North Lake College Kids’ Summer Camp – a place where youngsters can make new friends and create summer memories.  Activities are designed to promote opportunities to explore, create and have fun.  Camp topics include robotics, basketball, art and culture, fitness, mathematics, science, reading and writing. Individual camps last one week, and two sessions are offered: June 13 to July 1 and July 18-29.  Morning camps are held from 9 a.m. to noon, and afternoon camps are scheduled from 1 to 4 p.m.; parents can choose either the morning or afternoon camp during the camp dates their children attend.  Kids’ camp classes range in cost from $120 to $159.  North Lake also offers a Future Blazers Basketball Camp from June 27-30 or July 11-14, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., for boys and girls, ages 8 to 14.

Registration is under way, and space is limited.  All registration must be done in person; no phone registrations are permitted.  A registration packet must be completed by a parent/guardian and returned to the North Lake College continuing education office, along with proof of payment (in full) before a student can be accepted for a camp.  All children who are enrolled in a summer camp also must obtain a North Lake College photo ID, which they will wear at all times during every camp session.  For more information, call the North Lake College office of continuing education at 972-273-3386.  For details about each camp, visit Kids Summer Camp.

Richland College – Richardson/Dallas

Richland College will present “Girls Inc. Eureka!” for rising 8^th-grade girls who are interested in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) areas. The eight-week program starts at Richland from June 13-17 and then moves to: the University of Texas at Dallas from June 20-24; the University of North Texas-Dallas from June 27 – July 1; and Cedar Valley College from July 5-8. The Eureka! Institute offers opportunities on a college campus to participate in STEM-based activities, personal development and sports. The cost is $200 for the camp (plus $60 additional membership fee for new members), and campus are held Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.