Camp Invention set for Spa City school
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Ina few weeks students will take a break from summer vacation to sharpen their minds at Camp Invention.
The camp first arrived in Saratoga Springs in 2008 at Maple Avenue Middle School, but moved to Division Street Elementary Schoo recently because of the demand. In the past, 110 students attended the week-long camp, but the new space increased the number of students to 200, and it’s already sold out.
The directors of the camp, Connie Woytowich and Braiden White, have close ties to the school. Woytowich served as the PTA president, while White teaches second grade. Woytowich teaches at Colonie High School, and she established a Camp Invention program at Shaker Road Elementary School, after discussing it with her science supervisor. But in recent years, Woytowich returned to direct the Saratoga Springs camp.
Camp Invention itself has programs throughout the country. It’s a nonprofit enrichment camp program created by the National Inventors Hall of Fame, which aims to challenge children from kindergarten through sixth grade to find their “inner inventor” by learning the process of innovation, according to the organization.
“This particular program incorporates two things: entrepreneurship and STEM education,” said Woytowich. “Those two things combined supplement the traditional school year instruction. It’s very hands-on.”
The camp, which takes place July 16 through July 20, varies in curriculum each year based on input from the National Inventors Hall of Fame inductees. This year’s curriculum, called Fast Forward, features four activities: Optibot, a small self-driving robot that senses changes in light; Robotic Pet Vet; Mod My Mini Mansion, a chance for campers to create a futurist smart home; and Stick To It, which allows time for campers to invent something new each day.
At the end of the camp, students bring home two personalized robots.
Woytowich has four kids, all of whom have done the camp. She said her favorite thing about the camp is that it’s all about the learning.
“It’s about the process. There’s no test at the end. They don’t have to leave camp with everything working perfectly. It’s all about the learning process. If things don’t work out the first time when you try it, try it again until it works,” said Woytowich. “It’s really about teaching kids, not only how things work in the theoretical sense, but also putting forth effort and perseverance is really important, because that is how you learn. You’re going to fail and you have to learn how to deal with that and move on.”