THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 31, 1994 TAG: 9407290277
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
Ronnie Smith Jr. curiously eyed the nearly 16-foot-long wooden skiff before easing into it. It looked pretty good for something he and some three dozen other Portsmouth middle school students had built themselves, he thought.
But would it float?
``I still can't believe we made them,'' the aspiring architect said Wednesday afternoon, as he inspected the red ``Hot Rod'' and the green ``Nautica'' the students had built as part of a summer camp project. ``We had help from Mr. Boat Man and everything,'' he said, referring to Chesapeake boat builder Marc Pettingill, ``but still . . . it's just exciting.''
Ronnie, 13, and some of his fellow campers soon discovered that the two skiffs could in fact float. And with the help of a counselor, they took turns gleefully sailing around the algae-choked water behind Tidewater Community College's Portsmouth campus.
THE EXPERIENCES AT TCC's Discovery Camp might help the students sail their way into college - on someone else's dime.
After four years of running the camp, TCC has decided to offer Discovery veterans a carrot: Scholarship money to cover tuition for two years at TCC if they finish high school on time and with at least a 2.0 grade point average.
College President Larry L. Whitworth gave the idea the green light at the urging of camp director and TCC math instructor Richard Gill.
``It's important to get people from diverse backgrounds interested in mathematics and science-related fields because that's the future,'' Gill said. ``I don't know if this type of program will necessarily do that, but it's definitely a start.''
Students are pumped up about the new incentive.
``I think it's a good idea,'' said Natasha Combs, a Churchland Middle School student, ``because I know that will be there waiting for me, so it will make me work harder and stay on track and get good grades.'' The camp, she added, also has helped to erase her fear of gadgets and gizmos.
DISCOVERY CAMP is designed to turn rising eighth-graders on to math and science careers well before they've even thought about high school graduation or college financial aid forms.
The camp gets money from the federal government, the Beazley Foundation, the Portsmouth General Hospital Foundation, and the school district.
Students hip on things like numbers and formulas or Bunsen burners and beakers are tapped to attend the camp. Most of them come from neighborhoods where, at best, the educational level peaks at high school.
But the camp exposes them to the wonders of the Chesapeake Bay; college computer labs, where they can master word processing; and scientific experiments in which kids take the lead in learning.
There are other field trips and group assignments, too. But everything is centered on helping students discover fun in math and science, the knowledge of which increasingly is expected to be the passport to competitive jobs in the future.
``What I like about it,'' said 13-year-old Andre Gilmore, ``is that they show you that what you thought was hard isn't really so hard after all.''
DARYL GRAVES, 17, participated in the camp in 1990. He volunteered there this year during breaks from his summer job at Portsmouth General.
``Discovery Camp teaches self-esteem and helps you with leadership and goal-setting,'' said Graves, a rising junior at Wilson High School who plans to study medicine at Morehouse College. ``It makes you want to work hard to keep your grades up because you feel better about your future.''
Cradock Middle School math teacher John Makuch, who helped teach math, has seen many light bulbs click on this summer.
``Many of the concepts seem to stick better because they're having fun while they're learning,'' he said. ``It's also more hands-on.''
School, said 13-year-old Ronnie Smith Jr., ``should be more like this.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
Schoolchildren test out a boat they built at Tidewater Community
College as part of the college's Discovery Camp. Three dozen
Portsmouth middle school students took part in the program.
by CNB