School's out for the summer — but that doesn't mean kids will miss out on educational opportunities between now and fall.
Central Oregon Community College (COCC) is hoping to fill some of the open hours on local children's schedules with a variety of college courses for high school students and youth camps for middle school-age kids. And this year, they're free!
"We at COCC applied for a grant this summer that would cover a couple of really important things for both Prineville and Madras, and those are some free college classes for our high school students, and we have three of those classes being offered this summer here on the Prineville campus," said Suzie Kristensen, Prineville campus director.
The camp is also paying for nine youth camps, for ages 10-14, scheduled throughout July and August. The first three camps — Pies and Quick Breads, It's a Pizza Party and Unmanned Aerial Systems (Drones) — will take place July 11-14.
"Students will learn how to fly drones and they learn the basics of aeronautics," Kristensen said.
Additional Youth Camps include Growing Gardens for Food and Fun; Creative Writing; Manga Drawing and Theater Arts; Visual Arts; Photography; and Junior Police Academy.
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College classes offered for Crook County high school students include Basic 2-D Design (July 5-Aug.11), College Success (July 19-Aug. 4) and First Aid & CPR (Aug. 9-11).
COCC received a $247,819 award from the Oregon Association of Education Service Districts to support a range of free and low-cost summer programs, symposiums, camps and credit-based coursework for regional K-12 students. Hundreds of middle school and high school youths across Central Oregon are expected to benefit from the grant.
Four educational focuses are receiving funding, and each has a shared mission of providing opportunities and enrichment for traditionally underserved students, particularly in rural parts of the college's district, which spans some 10,000 square miles.
"This funding will impact so many young students across our region, providing access to some truly unique learning opportunities," said Jenn Kovitz, COCC's director of marketing and public relations. "For instance, we have a brand-new summer symposium, called Ubuntu, for Black high school students that's modeled after our existing Latinx and Native American symposiums, where students can gain a feel for college life while celebrating their culture."
The funding is allocated to support several specific areas. They include Youth Camp programming ($120,425) for middle schoolers, with entirely free programming offered at the Madras and Prineville campuses; weeklong, overnight college preparation symposiums ($30,000) for Latinx, Native American and Black high school students on COCC's Bend campus; a weeklong research-oriented, science-specific program ($15,227) for high schoolers; and credit-based, career-oriented classes ($82,166) for high school students.
The Youth Camps can accommodate up to 20 kids each. The high school courses are expected to impact an estimated 266 high schoolers. For more information on the programs, call 541-383-7700. 
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