It was a great moment Thursday (June 18th) afternoon at Schlarman Academy’s South Campus; when elementary students from both Danville District 118 and Schlarman Academy paraded into the gym in front of their families after completing a week of Camp Invention; which is a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) oriented program from the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
(1st Picture) Lori Woods and Isaiah Easton discuss plans prior to the parade into the Schlarman Academy South gym. (2nd Picture) Matthew Sherman, current team leader and veteran of six Camp Inventions as a student, poses with Lori Woods. (3rd Picture) Bailee Easton leads her group as they do their “team cheer.”
Teacher Lori Woods, retired from District 118 and now working for Schlarman Academy, had led this program for many summers in various District 118 schools; the last two at Liberty Elementary. But heading into this year; the Army Education Outreach Program grant that allowed kids to attend for free was supposedly not available, and Lori Woods wrote Camp Invention a thank you note for all the great years. Then, it was decided that Danville deserved to still have the grant. Woods recalled that although District 118 had cancelled summer programs; the feeling was, “we can do this.” So she got together with the District 118 superintendent, and the Schlarman Academy interim principal.
AUDIO: We had to either decide to not accept the grant, or get creative. And so, Mr. Hart and I and Ms Cherry all started talking. And we worked it out so that Danville District 118 kids and Schlarman kids could attend, and that Schlarman would host the camp this year down here at the South Campus.
Then came problems from Mother Nature. Last week’s storms and tornado activity restricted the prep time Camp Invention usually has. Then, this week’s threatening Wednesday forecast caused one of the four days to be cancelled. But Woods says her volunteer counselors, many of them former Camp Invention kids themselves, helped make it all work. One of those students was 2024 DHS grad Isaiah Easton; who has completed two years at the University of Pennsylvaia studying Business, Entrepreneurship, and Marketing.
AUDIO: I think the kids are really creative. It’s really nice to be able to see what they come up with. I was looking at one of someone’s drawings for their inventions after class. And I was thinking, it’s so nice that they are being really creative. They are trying different things. And seeing some of the things that they come up with is really cool.
As the families left with their students’ creations and belongings, Woods told them to please go to a certain link and provide feedback; because plans for Camp Invention in Danville next year are not yet known.
