Each summer, UNC Greensboro hosts camps with unique specialties that campers can use to cultivate their talents over the summer. This summer UNCG is proud to continue the tradition with improvements to make this the best summer camp experience for our visiting prospective Spartans.
All of the camps can be found here.
CHANCE
One of the summer camps that focuses on personal experience and development is the Campamento Hispano Abriendo Nuestro Camino a la Educacion (CHANCE). For one week each summer, this camp opens the road to education for about 100 Latin-identifying high school students. This year it will be held from July 12-15.
“I’ll describe it as the intersection between people who work at UNCG who have a heart for our Latinx community,” says Gus Peña, co-director of CHANCE. “Getting together and doing something that’s going to have a positive impact. One of our dreams is hosting high school students on campus, to show them and communicate the message that education beyond high school is in reach for you. It might be difficult in some situations, but it is a possibility. We’re addressing that ceiling that can exist for Hispanic students across the country and in North Carolina.”
The on-campus program encourages the campers to learn about college and embrace their Latin culture. They live on campus in the North Spencer Hall and attend enrichment sessions – lectures, library visits, and the career and majors fair in the mornings and cultural excursions such as Fiesta Latina, movie nights, and esports in the evening.
Campers receive mentors based on their educational interests, and if they enroll they keep those summer mentors through their first year at UNCG. Parents also receive assistance and support through counseling to help with the temporary transition. The bonding experience these campers go through can’t be compared.
“It’s a community, you know, it’s a community that’s been forming for the past few years,” says Peña. “Even after they leave the camp, students will get together and support each other. And then when they come on campus, they’re still friends and roommates. So, it goes beyond providing those resources over the summer. It’s finding that sense of belonging, that sense of being a part of something. We all have that collective dream of pursuing higher education, and that dream is not just for ourselves, but for our family and our community.”
UNCG’s CHANCE was recognized as one of the top programs to look out for by Excelencia in Education. It’s no surprise that over 50 percent of campers that go through CHANCE end up enrolling at UNCG. In addition to the enrichment they receive during the camp, they are eligible to receive a scholarship from the CHANCE program.
Young Writers’ Camp
Another camp UNCG offers that focuses on professional development is the Young Writers’ Camp. The first of the three camps begins on June 19. It has run for 12 years by Amy Vetter, Melody Zoch, and Beverly Faircloth. Started as an initiative to boost creative talents in the youth of the Greater Greensboro Community, Young Writers Camp has flourished since.
It’s set in three, two-week sessions that go from June to August and serves 175-200 students, focusing on the fundamentals of writing and providing a platform for campers to be creative.
“We really take a writing workshop approach,” says Dr. Amy Vetter, co-director of Young Writers’ Camp. “We pay attention to what the campers are interested in and develop some mini lessons to help them grow in that regard. That means spending some time brainstorming ideas for what they want to write, then giving them time to draft, sit down, and write. We do a lot of peer editing and try to help them develop their characters more.”
This camp helps young, aspiring writers understand the many types of writing they can pursue. Authors, poets, journalists, marketers, business writers, and more are invited to come speak about how to turn dreams into a reality. It’s important to highlight that at the end of the camp experience, the young writers have a chance to publish their writing online.
The Young Writers’ Camp also acknowledges the Greensboro community, including the recent immigrants, resettled youth, and refugees. To acknowledge and celebrate these voices, it created a two-week camp called Community Voices for campers in sixth through 12th grade that recently resettled. Some of these youth are multilingual and come from different backgrounds, but with the Young Writers’ Camp, they are encouraged to let their voices be heard through writing and storytelling.
“There is something really important about creative writing, so I try to do it whenever I can,” says Vetter. “There’s something healing about it. It can help you make sense of emotions and issues that you’re going through. It can help you just be playful again. Just writing and thinking ‘I don’t care if anybody sees this’ can be really transformative. This reminded me of why I became a teacher, it reminded me of why I love literature and writing.”
S’more UNCG camp offerings
Herpetological Research Experience
June 19-24
In this residential research-based camp, rising 9th through 12th graders work alongside field experts exploring the vast ecosystem at the Chestnut Ridge Camp and Retreat Center. Each morning, they go into the field to catch, catalog, and release various reptiles and amphibians. They study the inhabitants of ephemeral pools, streams, lakes, and hardwood forests.
Possible field studies include: water turtles and box turtles, snakes, stream amphibians, ephemeral pool amphibians, and frog calls.
The camp is based at a nut-free facility that can provide vegetarian and gluten-free options as needed. Please note that this camp has protocols in place for COVID-19. Contact info@campchestnutridge.org or 919.304.2178 for more information.
Summer Sport Camps
Dates vary based on sport
Be part of a team and improve your athletic skills with the Summer Sport Camps, offering training in soccer, volleyball, basketball, and others for participants of all ages. Each sports camp is run independently by UNCG’s incredible coaching staff.
Esports camp
Beginning July 3
UNCG will again offer the Esports & Gaming Summer Camps for kids ages 8-14. Partnering with the nationally-renowned gaming education company Black Rocket, these six week-long camps offer kids unique opportunities courtesy of the campus’s beautiful Esports arena, a state-of-the-art 3,300 square feet facility, along with computer lab spaces. They get to try everything from exploring YouTube content creation to building their own Roblox games to trying out level-editing and 3D modeling. The camps will be held over a six-week period.
Campers focus on two major subjects each week – one in the morning and one in the afternoon – while still having plenty of time allotted for gameplay and friendly competitions.
UNCG hosted these camps for the first time last year and saw so much interest that even more camps opportunities are available this year.
Click here to register.
UNCG Summer Music Camp
Beginning July 9
The largest University music camp in the U.S. is back for 2023. Two one-week camps are being offered this summer, serving over two thousand musicians with programs in band, mixed chorus, orchestra, and piano.
Camp participants are guided by the UNCG School of Music faculty alongside guest teachers, performers, and conductors from throughout the nation. Together they ensure that each student receives an unmatched musical education. Ensemble performance is emphasized, but a private lesson in instrument or voice is available to all campers. Each camp concludes with a concert for parents, relatives, friends, and the community. Overnight students will stay in double occupancy rooms in the UNCG residence halls and receive meals in the University Dining Hall. A day camper option is also available if preferred.
For more information contact 336.334.5299 or email smcamp@uncg.edu.
More summer camp options with the College of Visual & Performing Arts can be found here. To learn more and apply, visit the camp website.
Story by Dana Broadus, University Communications
Photography by Martin W. Kane and David Lee Row, University Communications
Spend the summer playing and learning.
