Central Ohio Middle School Students Expand Minds at OWjL Camp
OWjL campers participate in classes such as this one on archaelogy. This year's camp sessions run through June 29. (Photo courtesy of OWjL)
DELAWARE, OHIO – More than 500 middle school students from nine central Ohio counties are participating in the OWjL summer camp program at Ohio Wesleyan University in one of three weeklong sessions now through June 29.
While living on the OWU campus, the talented and gifted students will take part in classes such as “Building Brilliant Bridges,” “Painting with Van Gogh,” “You’re on Trial,” and “Model Rocket Madness.”
Pronounced “owl,” the camp’s acronym stands for Ohio Wesleyan/Junior League of Columbus, which founded the program 31 years ago. Ohio Wesleyan is the camp sponsor.
The sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students invited to attend OWjL camp are nominated by principals, guidance counselors, or teachers from schools in Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Licking, Madison, Marion, Morrow, Pickaway, and Union counties. The students all have earned high test scores and demonstrated exceptional talent, creativity, or leadership skills.
OWjL camp offers fun but challenging courses in both arts and sciences. This year’s weeklong sessions run from June 10-15 (grades six and seven), June 17-22 (grades seven and eight), and June 24-29 (grades six and seven).
OWjL teachers include university professors, national board-certified secondary school teachers, teachers of gifted and talented students, and other experts in their fields. The counselors are students from Ohio Wesleyan and other Ohio colleges. Many of the counselors are former OWjL campers.
The OWjL program was developed and founded by the Junior League following a two-year study that determined gifted and talented middle school students were under served during the school year with programs to promote discovery and foster skills in problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, research, leadership, and communication.
Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier small, private universities, with more than 90 undergraduate majors, sequences, and courses of study, and 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Located in Delaware, Ohio, just minutes north of Ohio’s capital and largest city, Columbus, the university combines a globally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities that translate classroom theory into real-world practice. OWU’s close-knit community of 1,850 students represents 47 states and 57 countries. Ohio Wesleyan was named to the 2012 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with distinction, is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” and is included on the “best colleges” lists of U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review. Learn more at www.owu.edu.