Rebecca Jaderquist and Khaliah Wilson, two health sciences faculty members at Virginia Peninsula Community College, learned hands-on activities and a helicopter make for a successful summer camp.
Hopefully, those elements will be back this year at both weeks of the College’s Health Science Summer Camp. Last year, a Riverside VCU Health LifeVac helicopter was featured at the camp at the Historic Triangle Campus but not at the camp on the Hampton Campus. Jaderquist is trying to change that this year.
“They loved it. They had a blast,” Jaderquist said of the reaction last year’s campers had to the helicopter visit. “They were able to go inside the helicopter and sit and talk to the people.”
She noted a close second was a visit to a fire station, where students explored a fire truck, climbed on a ladder, and tried on equipment. There also was a visit to a hospital, which many of the students enjoyed.
This year’s camps are scheduled for June 15-18 at the Historic Triangle Campus and July 6-9 at the Hampton Campus. They are for rising seventh- through ninth-graders, and there is a cap of 24 students each week. Applicants must submit a 200-word essay by April 29 on why they want to attend. There is no fee. For more information, email psahhs@vpcc.edu or call (757) 825-2808.
Wilson’s favorite part is how interactive the lesson plans are.
“Every day, the students are involved in hands-on healthcare activities,” she said. “They learn emergency services, life-saving techniques. They learn CPR. They learn how to take vital signs. It teaches them a lot of different skills that help boost their interest in healthcare.”
As for the curriculum, one day is dedicated to EMS, another to nursing, another to public health.
“The students really liked the EMS because it was really, really hands-on,” Wilson said.
There will be a few new instructors, said Jaderquist, so the lesson plans won’t be identical to last year but will be close.
“It’ll be a new experience,” she said, adding she thinks there will be different games and settings for the immersion lab. “Everything else will look pretty similar.”
For Jaderquist, her favorite aspect is watching the students, who come from across Hampton Roads, become friends in just four days.
“They don’t all know each other when they come in,” she said.
For more information on the College, visit www.vpcc.edu.
