Mount Carmel paved the way for specialization

“What’s special about our camps is we try to address the variety of interests of girls in this particular age group,” said camp director Denna Cheramie, assistant principal, who has been running camp for about 19 years. “We have a real range of activities for them. Our offerings are very specialized. … What we are going for is a unique experience rather than a generic experience.”
 

The annual, month-long summer camp at Mount Carmel Academy runs June 1-26 and has morning and afternoon sessions for girls entering second through fourth grades (junior camp) and those entering fifth through eighth grades. 
Each of the camps is run by a teacher, with students helping out.
 

“A teacher plans it, conducts it and is in charge of it,” Cheramie said. “We are not just sending them off with high school kids,” she said.
 

Sarah Miller, MCA communications director, said it is the teachers with their varied interests who come to Cheramie with their ideas and create camps around their passions and experiences that they think young girls would enjoy.
 

The variety of camps allows campers to choose activities that are tailored to their interests, Miller said. Campers just don’t show up and are led by activities.
Cheramie says among the most popular camps are cooking and sewing camps, theater camps, a forensic camp (where campers become investigators solving a crime using DNA analysis) and a Maker Bot Magic camp using the school’s 3-D printers.
 

New camps this year include Toy Tastic – science meets art – where campers will create and make their own toys; a unicorn craft camp for younger campers and several camps around the princess theme (party planning, princess academy).
 

“For older campers, we have ‘Paw Prints: Bullet Journaling.’ It’s a new fad,” Cheramie said. “Another cool one is a mini-hoop embroidery camp that we are excited to offer.”
 

Camps range between $80 to $105 a session.
 

Registration can be done online through May 22 for $35. Before- and after-care hours are from 8-9 a.m., and after care is from 4-6 p.m. Visit www.mcacubs.com or email [email protected] for details.