BEMIDJI, Minn. – The Gillett Recreation and Fitness Center at Bemidji State University is offering a summer Academic Adventure program for children ages 8-12, designed to reinforce academic concepts in an experimental outdoor and community environment. The camp will be held in four five-day sessions beginning June 23.

The Academic Adventures program will combine outdoor activities and hands-on experiences in a challenging, goal-oriented environment. Students will participate in academically-structured activities that follow lesson plans, and will maintain journals of their week-long experiences with notes, writing and artwork. At the end of each session campers and their families are invited to an awards ceremony hosted at Bemidji State’s Hobson Forest.

The program will feature a variety of outdoor activities such as rock climbing, sailing, canoeing, kayaking and group games. The outdoor activities will focus on reinforcing academic concepts such as math, investigative science, physics and communications while also teaching personal development skills such as water safety, conflict management and study skills.

Students will also have opportunities to see presentations from representatives of Lake Bemidji State Park and Bemidji and Beltrami County law enforcement and tour three-dimensional holography laboratories in Bemidji State’s Bridgeman Hall.

All presentations will be held at Bemidji State, so participants in the program will not leave campus.

Registration for the Academic Adventure program is open now. The program will be held in four five-day sessions, beginning on a Monday and ending on a Friday. Sessions begin June 23, July 14, July 21 and Aug. 4. Camp sessions will begin at 7:30 a.m. and end at 3:30 p.m. each day.

Children must be between 8 and 12 years old on the first day of the session they wish to attend in order to participate. Registration is limited to 10 children per session. There will be a low 5-to-1 student-to-instructor ratio, ensuring that each student will be continuously engaged in every activity. Registration fees are $125 per session, and no food or snacks will be provided at the camp. Participants will need to bring meals each day.

For more information, please contact the Gillett Recreation and Fitness Center on the Bemidji State campus at (218) 755-4135 or Academic Adventures Director Chris Hoffman at (218) 755-4141.