BGSU Academic Enrichment Camps help record number of students stay sharp for upcoming school year

University's online educational summer camps serve more than 1,200 students across Ohio and 13 other states

By Branden Ferguson

Committed to creating public good through community engagement, Bowling Green State University is helping a record number of students remain academically prepared for the upcoming school year through its engaging, online summer Academic Enrichment Camps (AEC).

Up from 150 students in 2020, more than 1,200 learners in third through eighth grade across Ohio and 13 other states are taking part in this year's camps, providing virtual education in mathematics, science, language arts and social studies during two-week sessions. Students also are supplied with activity boxes to further support engaged learning.

Lessons are taught by practicing teachers and BGSU pre-service teachers from the University's nationally ranked teacher education program.

“These camps keep students actively engaged throughout the summer and allow us to help mitigate some of the learning loss that might be happening during the summer months,” said Dr. Gabriel Matney, director of the AEC program.  

Matney said the increase in enrollment in recent years is due in part to philanthropic gifts that allow students to take up to two courses at no cost to their families.  

BGSU pre-service teachers serve as camp instructors, gaining real world experience by developing lesson plans, educating students via virtual classrooms and assessing their progress.

Erin Musil, a BGSU senior majoring in secondary mathematics education, serves as an AEC instructor, focusing on student engagement and success.

“It’s not supposed to feel like school. It’s supposed to feel fun and be engaging” she said. “Being virtual, it’s easy for students to get distracted, but science experiments in their kitchens and real-life applications for math can make all the difference.”

For Musil, the experience not only benefits the students she teaches but also serves as an educational opportunity as well.

“This type of experience has been extremely helpful for me as a future teacher because it made me think on my feet,” she said. “Much like being a teacher in a traditional classroom, there are students who are extremely interested in the subject matter, and there are also students who struggle. I am able to work with both types of students just as I will when I’m a teacher in my own classroom.”

Ryan Griesmer ’23 is pursuing his master’s degree in education at BGSU and returned as an AEC instructor for a third summer because he values the positive impact the enrichment camps have on students.

“Although we teach students material that will be learned next school year, typically there’s some brief review of something that connects to the previous year. Once we make that connection, students start to learn new materials that can then set them up for success in the upcoming year,” he said. “They may be sitting in class next year when it hits them, ‘Oh, I remember talking about this over the summer,’ and then they have the confidence needed to thrive in the classroom.”

Musil and Griesmer appreciate the online aspect of the enrichment camps, which broadens their teaching capabilities.

“When the pandemic hit, everyone and everything was forced online," Griesmer said. "Online teaching is now a necessity. I’m not sure anything like that will ever happen again, but if it does, I can tell you that I will definitely be more prepared to teach because I’ve had this online teaching experience.”

Musil echoed the same appreciation for the online teaching format.

“Teaching online and being able to formally assess your students and gauge their understanding can be really difficult. Instructing these camps only further prepares me as a teacher,” she said.

While instructors like Griesmer and Musil are working with students and furthering their education, they are guided by supportive staff, including Katelyn Niehaus '22, now a fifth and sixth grade science teacher at Hicksville Schools in Defiance County.

“I was once in their shoes. This camp was really the first time where I did almost all of the things a teacher does, like lesson planning, budgeting for supplies, working with co-instructors, making assessments and more," Niehaus said. "It really opened my eyes to all of those aspects of teaching and gave me structures that I continue to use to this day as a teacher.

“I get to review lesson plans and assessments before camp, make observations during the camp and help them reflect after camp is over. I have improved my own teaching as a result of this and have gotten a lot of ideas from these instructors that I use in my classroom.”

At the end of each camp, AEC leaders request feedback from the students, parents and instructors, which Matney said is nearly always positive.

“Students are having fun, parents are signing their kids up for additional camps and our instructors are excited to gain hands-on experience,” he said.