Camps for kids who like to think

ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camps give bright but disadvantaged U.S. middle-school students the chance to experience the world of science and technology for themselves.

Have you ever asked a child, “How did you spend your summer vacation?”

Fifty middle-school students in Virginia can say they built remote-controlled solar-powered robots. A similar group in Oregon will tell you that, with help from a NASA astronaut, they planned a two-year mission to Mars.

In all, some 1,200 boys and girls – equal numbers of each – attended one of the 25 ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camps in 23 U.S. cities in 2008. The goal of the program is to reach good students from grades 6 through 8 and excite them about math, science and technology.

There are always more applicants than the free camps can accept. With support from the ExxonMobil Foundation, however, the program reaches 15 times more students than it did just three years ago.

“Our target for 2009 is 30 camps,” says Truman Bell, ExxonMobil’s senior program officer for Education and Diversity. “We have a very good template that Dr. Harris has developed. The two-week residential camps, which are hosted by universities around the country, are a great outreach program for the schools as well. For many kids, it is their first time on a college campus.”

The camp programs are based on national science and math standards. There’s a strong emphasis on applied science and hands-on activity.

To take full advantage of a university’s expertise, individual camp directors have some latitude in the way they teach the classes.

The University of Oklahoma, for example, is strong in the earth sciences, so the camp it sponsors teaches a range of math, biology and chemistry, all related to geoscience.

At The University of Central Florida, the 2008 camp focused on forensic science. For two weeks, the students learned about the math, science and technology of a criminal investigation. On the final day, campers conducted a mock trial, each taking the role of someone involved in the case.

“Campers come to the universities and live in dormitory rooms during the week,” Bell explains. “That exposes them to a college atmosphere. Some of the teachers are college professors. The programs are intense, designed for top students who are already motivated to learn. By the end of camp, we want them to leave with a new appreciation for the real world of math and science.”

It’s OK to be smart

There is a consistent theme at every camp – it is OK to be smart. Dr. Bernard Harris, co-founder of the program, visits many of the camps to meet the students and press home the message.

“It’s OK to be a geek, because geeks rule the world,” he told a group of New Jersey campers in July. “Each of you was born into this world with infinite possibilities. You are the only one to decide your special talents and skills.”

The Harris Foundation, which organizes the camps, empowers students, especially minorities and those who are economically and/or socially disadvantaged, through math and science education. Whenever Harris speaks, he relates to young people by drawing on his own experience.

“I grew up poor, not having the same opportunities as others,” he explains. “I was raised by a single mom. When she wanted a fresh start, she took a job with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. I grew up in Arizona and New Mexico, in the Navajo Nation, where my mother taught school.”

As a child with few early role models, Harris found his own strengths.

“I believe we all have power inside,” he says. “We are all born multitalented, with the belief that nothing is impossible, but then the environment of our family and community takes over. It begins to tell us ‘no’ in different ways. This can confine and restrict us. We may end up, as many young people have today, struggling and not believing in ourselves.”

The best feedback

For all who attend, science camp is more than a one-time event. There is a Saturday academy or other programs during the academic year as follow-up for each camp, and many of the students keep in touch with the new friends they’ve made.

“We want to know if we’re having an impact,” Harris says. “We want to know how we can improve the camps.”

Camp organizers also track student progress through grades and state performance tests. Probably the best feedback, however, comes from the families and students themselves.

“We often hear from former campers and their families,” Harris says. “Many say our program is the reason they are in math and science. One dad told me recently that his daughter came home from one of our earlier camps so excited that she became an educator. Now she’s in her second year of teaching at a math and science magnet school in Houston. That kind of story makes me feel very good.” 

The sky is the limit

Bernard Harris is a medical doctor who trains like an athlete, thinks like a businessman and radiates the confidence of someone who has flown in space. He’s also head of what is now the ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp program.

Harris retired from the U.S. space program in 1996 as a veteran of two shuttle missions and a historic walk in space. Today his Houston-based venture-capital firm invests in companies that specialize in telemedicine.

With a staff that schedules his appointments by the minute, Harris still found time to visit 20 of the 25 science camps held in 2008, easily spending more time traveling than when he logged more than 7 million miles in space.

“I’ve been an active person and a multitasker all my life,” Harris says. “It helps when you are passionate about what you are doing. If we do our job right on the venture-capital side, a company takes off. When we do our job right with a kid, the kid takes off. After that, the sky is the limit.”