Clark State college-prep program to open in June

A program designed to get area students comfortable with the idea of college will kick off this month with a handful of new courses.

Now in its 29th year, the College for Kids program will begin on Monday, offering more than 25 classes to area students from kindergarten through eighth grade, said Kanesha Hall, STEM programming manager for Clark State Community College.

“The program is a really great way for parents or guardians to send their kid to a college campus for a program that focuses on a variety of interests,” Hall said. “We want to push them to become comfortable and acclimated to college but also just to think about careers and what their strengths are.”

The program consists of different programs each week, including new courses in digital comic illustration, engineering fashion, food science technology, geospatial technology and journalism/TV reporting.

The average cost per class is $67.

All of the classes this year will be offered at Clark State’s campuses at Leffel Lane and in downtown Springfield. But the program will be expanded to Clark State’s Beavercreek campus next year, Hall said.

Classes are no longer than two hours, but families can also sign up for a day-camp option, allowing a student to pair two classes together for one full day of the camp. The classes last one week.

“One thing I’m excited about is the kids get to sample actual college programs,” Hall said. “That’s something that many kids benefit from. They could have the same professor or the department chair teaching them in the summer that they may have when they’re doing College Credit Plus or even embarking upon a major at Clark State or somewhere else.”

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