Faculty-developed camps elevate MCA’s summer program

Above: Summer camps at Mount Carmel Academy make full use of the high school’s state-of-the-art physical plant and campus amenities. (Photos courtesy of Mount Carmel Academy)

By BETH DONZE
Clarion Herald

Girls entering grades 2-8 are invited to design their own adventures on the campus of Mount Carmel Academy this summer by choosing from a dizzying array of morning and afternoon offerings in art, science, dance, sports, cheerleading, drama, cooking and other areas of interest.

Week-long “junior camps” (those tailored to girls entering grades 2-4) and “specialty camps” (designed to suit the interests of girls entering grades 5-8) enable campers to delve into a given activity or area of interest over the course of a fun-filled, three-hour time slot in the morning and/or afternoon.

“We want campers to be able to select an area of interest, rather than a traditional camp where everybody does arts and crafts at one time, everybody does swimming or sports at one time,” said Denna Cheramie, Mount Carmel’s assistant principal and the director of Mount Carmel Summer Camp for more than 20 years. “Here, you get to pick what you are interested in, and it also gives the flexibility to parents who may just want a morning session, just an afternoon session or an all-day option.” 

Cheramie said camp offerings, which change up every week, are designed very specifically, offering experiences that “you’re not going to get in a camp that’s very generalized.” For example, rather than creating a general cooking course, there are full camps designed around special themes such as “Cookies,” “Holiday Baking” and “Cajun Cuisine.”

“Everything is really detailed, so you can really explore those specific interests,” she said.

Technology-savvy girls

STEM-related camps have exploded in variety – and popularity with Mount Carmel campers – over the last five years, Cheramie said.

“Our ‘CSI-MCA Forensic Camp,’ for example, is one that merges technology, science and adventure; one of the cool things we do is bring in forensic dogs from the ATF,” she said. “They perform hair analysis, synthetic blood typing, DNA analysis, fingerprint analysis – a retired expert from that field comes in and talks about how to do fingerprinting. At the end of the week they use all  their knowledge to solve a pretend crime.”

Another camp – one devoted to sticker-making – will have the girls using Wacom tablets and iPads to create and print their own unique stickers on different types of paper, such as metallic and glow-in-the-dark.

“We talk about being a graphic designer,” Cheramie said. “At the end of that camp, they will have a custom sticker they can put on their water bottle.” 

Teachers lead the way

Also setting Mount Carmel’s summer program apart is the fact that each camp is conceived, designed and conducted by a Mount Carmel faculty member and assisted by Mount Carmel students who are rising ninth graders and older.

“Our camp leaders are hands-on – it’s not like the kids are released to the (high school-age) counselors,” noted Cheramie, who approaches faculty members throughout the school year to ask them if they want to create a camp for the coming summer, themed around one of their special skills or interests. This creative approach means that fresh camp options pop up every year and are enthusiastically presented by their leaders.

“They’re creating these camps based on their own personal knowledge, experience and interests – that’s how we wind up with these very specific, very interesting camps,” Cheramie said. “For example, we have a teacher who’s very into stop-motion animation, so we have a stop-motion animation camp. We have a teacher who has a candle business on the side, so we have a candle-making camp. When you bring all these different people and all their specific skills and interests into it and allow them to create something that’s meaningful to them, we come out with these really cool, diverse and interesting options!” 

Campers can choose to attend one or more weeks of Mount Carmel Summer Camp between June 6 and July 1. The cost of each camp ranges from $80 to $105, and takes place either in the morning (9 a.m.-noon) or afternoon (1-4 p.m.), enabling participants to attend one or two camps each day.

Now through April 28, a $35 non-refundable registration fee can be paid online at mca cubs.com. A late registration fee of $40 is available from April 29-May 21.

Morning care (8-9 a.m.) is free, and aftercare (4-6 p.m.) is $40 per week or $10 per day. A payment link for camp fees, prepaid lunch, after-care payments and extra T-shirts will be available beginning March 29.

All camps take place on the campus of Mount Carmel Academy, 7027 Milne Blvd. in New Orleans, except for the following three camps: the track and field and soccer camps (at City Park); and the softball camp (in Kenner). Transportation to these off-site camps is provided.

Register at mcacubs.com. The camp email is [email protected]; phone: (504) 288-7626.

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