STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) education has become a hot topic in schools and camps throughout the country as science standards and teaching methods have changed and progressed. As an established player in the outdoor education game, Guided Discoveries has been providing STEM education opportunities since before it was cool.
Guided Discoveries owns and operates AstroCamp and Camp Motorsport, which run side-by-side at the same facility. Throughout the year AstroCamp and Camp Motorsport offer overnight field trips for school groups, as well as summer camps.
AstroCamp provides a fun-filled summer camp experience with programming focusing on physics, astronomy and space exploration. Campers participate in daytime labs such as atmosphere and gases, fundamental forces, and rockets. Evenings are spent at the Astro Observatory utilizing a wide array of telescopes and other night sky viewing equipment. AstroCamp also provides good old summer camp fun during themed evening events, daytime electives and a lake party. These opportunities are available as one-week overnight sessions for campers age 8-14.
AstroCamp also offers overnight field trips to school groups throughout the school year. These trips help teachers to meet state science standards, while also providing the unique benefits of the “camp experience.” These trips are available to students in 4th through 12th grade in the form of one-day, three-day or five-day overnight programs (the three-day trip being the most popular).
Camp Motorsport operates one-week and two-week overnight summer camps during the summer months. Campers age 9-17 attend Camp Motorsport to drive go-karts and dirt buggies on various paved and off-road surfaces. The Kart Barn sits next to a 1.02-mile go-kart track and houses classrooms and safety equipment. Over 20 miles of off-road tracks and wooded trails are available for driving dirt buggies, including a challenging technical course. Campers are also exposed to some of the science behind driving and racing, including the mechanics of the vehicles that they drive.
The camps are both located in Clover, Virginia on a 406-acre campus, complete with state-of-the-art science labs, a rocket launch center, observatory, paved and off-road tracks, swimming pool, and lake. The facility boasts comfortable climate-controlled cabins and a dining hall.
AstroCamp and Camp Motorsport maintain a resident staff of administrators, instructors and service personnel. Each AstroCamp instructor has a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in a related field. Summer instructors and counselors are at least 19 years of age with relevant training in their field. All instructors and counselors are trained in waterfront lifeguarding, first aid and CPR. All staff are carefully screened, drug tested, fingerprinted and background checked.
“We are so excited for this opportunity to bring our unique, fun, educational programs to kids in Virginia,” said Craig Turner, Guided Discoveries’ director of administration, research and development. “Guided Discoveries really gives kids a hands-on opportunity to learn who they are, learn about our world and experience new things.”
Since its founding in 1979, more than 1.5 million students have attended Guided Discoveries’ school programs and summer camps in southern California, where the organization runs an additional AstroCamp facility, as well as programs at its Catalina Island Marine Institute. Guided Discoveries currently serves about 55 thousand students annually through its California programs.
“We started Guided Discoveries because we realized that STEM education is critically important for students, but it also needs to be engaging,” stated Ross Turner, Guided Discoveries’ president, CEO and co-founder. “We take science and turn it into a hands-on, tactile, educational adventure that is really fun for the students and the teachers, and the kids love it.”
Registration is open for both summer camps for summer of 2018, and reservations are being taken for school groups for spring of 2018 and fall of 2019. Visit the websites listed below for further information or call their office in Virginia at (434) 454-4059. Inquiries for AstroCamp and Camp Motorsport can also be sent via email to secretary@astrocampva.org.
