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Summer camp gives students glimpse of career choices
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Neighbors | Shaiyla Hakeem .MCCTC alumnus Chris Duncan (right) showed Canfield's Anthony Clendenin how to properly remove soiled gloves. Diana Holzer was the instructor for the school's medical occupation summer camp course.
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Neighbors | Shaiyla Hakeem .SpongeBob SquarePants has been murdered and it is up to Western Reserve's Paul Mowbray (front), Austintown's Malia Dixon (back left), Dakota Morgan and Zachary Cornell to find the criminal. MCCTC's Summer Camp provided Mahoning Valley middle-schoolers with the opportunity to learn about forensic science.
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Neighbors | Shaiyla Hakeem .MCCTC aviation instructor Scott Rowe (center) showed his summer camp students how to construct a carbon fiber wing Tuesday. His course dealt with aircraft construction.
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Neighbors | Shaiyla Hakeem .Cosmetology summer camp students practiced washing each other's hair Tuesday. For many, this was the first time they have washed someone else's hair.
By SHAIYLA HAKEEM
The Mahoning County Career and Technical Center hosted its third annual summer camp for students of the Mahoning Valley. The camp is offered one week each summer, but may extend into more sessions in the future.
Thirty-nine students attended the camp.
Jacqueline Kuffel, MCCTC career development supervisor, said the summer camp allows students to explore career options before they are required to make a decision. The camp was offered for middle school students, grades seven through nine, and gave them an idea of what a career in that field would be like.
“The camp provides an introduction to that particular career,” Kuffel said.
The courses available vary by year due to enrollment fluctuation. This year, five courses including aviation, forensics, medical occupations, cosmetology and culinary cuisine were offered. All teachers were certified in career technical education.
Though the camp is only one week, students said they learned a lot.
Poland’s Brittaney Maker said she has always been interested in crime scenes. She enrolled in the summer camp’s forensics course where she was given the task of solving SpongeBob SquarePants’ murder.
The class was split into groups where they investigated the crime scene, collected evidence and made cases against potential suspects. Maker watches a lot of crime television series, but said solving a crime isn’t as easy as it seems.
“I found out you have to work hard to do it and it takes a lot to find out who the criminal is,” she said.
The aviation course gave students a lesson in aircraft construction, inspection and servicing. Students in the culinary cuisine class learned basic cooking skills by preparing a different meal each day from scratch.
The camp’s medical occupations course provided students with training in infection control, first aid, the Heimlich maneuver and basic nursing skills such as making beds, administering intravenous therapy and removing stitches.
Cosmetology students pampered each other with facials and manicures as they learned about skin, hair and nail care.
Mercedes Pratt, of Austintown, said she had never washed another person’s hair, until MCCTC’s summer camp. She said it was more difficult than she imagined.
“This is fun,” Pratt said. “I’ve learned a lot about how to take care of my hair.”