Catawba Conservation Camp receives $25,000 Ribbon of Hope grant

Catawba College News Service

The Catawba Conservation Camp, a summer camp that teaches middle school girls about the importance of conserving and protecting the natural environment, will continue operating this summer, thanks to a $25,000 Ribbon of Hope grant.

In 2011, the NC GlaxoSmithKline Foundation’s Board of Directors awarded the Ribbon of Hope grant to Catawba College to continue its Catawba Conservation Camp or C3 that began in 2009 with funding provided by a three-year grant from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. More than 150 girls have participated in C3 between 2009 and 2011.

This summer’s camp is scheduled July 15 through 20 on the campus of Catawba College. It is open only to rising sixth- and seventh-grade girls. The camp accommodates approximately 50 girls and includes all meals, a weeklong stay in a residence hall and daily activities.

Directed by Dr. Cyndi Osterhus and Dr. Joe Poston, members of the Catawba faculty, the camp is co-sponsored by two academic programs of the college: The Academy for Teaching and The Center for the Environment. Its goal is to interest girls in the environmental sciences.

The campers, from Rowan, Cabarrus, Iredell, Davie, Davidson and Stanly counties, also learn about conservation practices they can use at home and school, and develop critical thinking and leadership skills. Campers have planned, hands-on activities related to science, including banding birds, exploring lakes and woods, identifying and tallying plant life, exploring amphibian and aquatic life with frogs, fish and turtles, examining insects and making friends who love science. Science instruction is led by a team of public school teachers and college faculty led by Poston.

“This program improves middle school girls’ competence in science and mathematics by enabling them to ‘do’ science and math in creative and engaging ways,” Osterhus, director of the Academy for Teaching, says. “It nurtures students’ enthusiasm for science and math, and creates that sense of excitement about the investigative process. We are grateful that this grant will allow us to continue offering this important opportunity to girls at a critical learning stage.”

The grant allows funding for all costs, except for a student’s $50 non-refundable registration fee and transportation to and from the college. Financial assistance is available for any family for whom the registration fee is a hardship.

Interested girls should complete and return the camp application (http://www.catawba.edu/academic/environmentalscience/c3/C3Brochure.pdf) to their teachers by March 7. The application includes a short essay written by the student that answers the question: “Why do you want to attend the Catawba Conservation Camp?” Selected students will be notified of acceptance and given more information in early April, with accepted students providing their registration fee by April 17.

For additional information, call Catawba College's Academy for Teaching at 704637-4499 or visit the website at www.catawba.edu/c3.