CHATTANOOGA, TN -- Parents of Chattanooga-area children can now offer young learners a taste of robotics and musical theatre education through Chattanooga State Community College’s summer day camps. 

Provided by the college’s Economic & Workforce Development Division, the summer camps are designed to inspire kids and teenagers to explore new interests and develop new skills during the summer break. 

This summer, ChattState is offering “Building Bots for Battle” and “Building Robopetz” camps in conjunction with RoboThink, an organization dedicated to teaching children about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). 

Lisa Hayes is the owner and director of RoboThink for Middle Tennessee and Chattanooga. She said robotics summer camps are designed to empower every student with STEM education regardless of skill level. 

“We have a very low student-teacher ratio because every child needs a little bit of help,” Hayes said. “I want them to think, Robotics camp was a lot of fun. I feel confident with STEM.’”  

Camp attendees will learn to work with gears, motors, axles, and other proprietary RoboThink hardware. No experience is necessary. Robotics camps are open to kids ages 8 to 13. 

Musical Theatre Camp 

This summer, musical theatre performer and ChattState drama professor Dr. Jennifer Arbogast Wilson and other instructors will guide students through a junior production of “Godspell,” a Tony-award-winning musical by Stephen Schwartz. 

Arbogast Wilson said two concurrent camps will be offered for middle and high school students, but they will ultimately come together at the end of the week to perform the musical, allowing instructors to tailor musical theatre education based on age and skill level. 

“Students will learn audition skills,” she said. “As the week progresses, they'll learn music, choreography, and acting. On the very last day of the camp, they will perform ‘Godspell’ for friends and family.” 

Meanwhile, a technical theatre camp will teach students about set design, lighting, and more. Theatre tech camp attendees will help design set pieces for “Godspell.” 

Arbogast Wilson said the camp has something to offer every attendee, regardless of whether he or she hopes to pursue a musical theatre career. 

“There’s a greater purpose behind this camp: building life skills, building a connection to other students, building empathy,” she said “It teaches you things like confidence.” 

Camp attendees will perform “Godspell” on Friday, July 26, at 4 p.m. in the ChattState Humanities Auditorium. The performance is free and open to the public. 

Musical Theatre camp is open to students from sixth grade to recent high school graduates. Rising sixth- through eighth-grade students will be taught by Amanda Medlin, while high school students will be taught by Arbogast Wilson. The technical theatre camp will be team-taught by Sarah Miecielica, Brenda Schwab, and Justin Walker. 

Robotics courses are offered intermittently from June 3 to August 2 at both the main ChattState campus and Kimball campus. 

Musical theatre camps are offered from July 22 to July 26 on the college’s main campus. 

Parents can register their children for summer camps on the ChattState website.