Head to CyberCamps for CyberFUN!

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Aug 21, 2001

It amazes me whenever I run into someone who has taken a passion and turned it into a life-long endeavor.

In 1997, Pete Findley pulled together two of his passions, working with kids and understanding technology. He entered his business plan and won the Entrepreneur Award from the University of Washington. Like so many in that year, with a dotcom dream, he invested that money into creating his company.

This dotcom story has a happy ending... or at least a happy current existence.

From Findley's initial investment, in association with the University of Washington School of Business, Computer Adventures was born. As it progressed, it gained a name change and became CyberCamps. Its mission was to open technology doors for girls and boys between the ages of 7 and 16. From its humble beginnings, it had grown an order of magnitude, hosting over 6000 students this summer.

CyberCamps offers week long courses in industry leading products like MacroMedia Flash, Adobe Photoshop, and Microsoft Office. It helps to prepare children for careers in technology and lets them explore their creative sides. It shows children the value of technology and equips them with the skills necessary to succeed in this technology-rich world we live in.

"We teach them the means to present these creative abilities using today's technology through animation, robotics, virtual reality, web page design, or just building basic computer skills. This camp experience is fun, as well as educational."

CyberCamps takes place at 40 different universities around the United States, such as Brown, Villinova, Georgetown, and UCLA. This year, they even extended their influence to a college in China. For the duration of the course, students stay on campus under the supervision of a counselor, on duty 24 hours a day.

Over the four years, CyberCamps has grown in expertise in teaching children about technology. From that experience, they have developed a program called GiantCampus. The product allows schools and after school clubs to continue to entertain and teach the children about technology through an on-line, web-based curriculum. This way, the learning doesn't just happen over the summer.

While not surprising, there is a price tag to all this fun. However, do not fret. There are opportunities for scholarships from the CyberCamps Foundation. This nonprofit foundation receives funding from some of the top technology companies in the US.

The challenge we face as a nation is how to provide all children equal access to modern technology. The Cybercamps Foundation was formed to help address this challenge.

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The copyright of the article Head to CyberCamps for CyberFUN! in Internet & Society is owned by Caroline Baker. Permission to republish Head to CyberCamps for CyberFUN! in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.