On Campus: Harper's InZone Inspires Kids One Fun Summer Class at a Time

Here’s one of the great (and perhaps obvious) things about a community college: It serves the entire  community.

That means it reaches beyond the usual college courses to offer – in Harper’s case – lifelong learning for senior citizens (I’ll never forget the time that I helped sing happy birthday to a student who turned 90 during one of our fitness classes); coaching for small businesses;  job-hunting help for the unemployed; and programs designed to help those who never finished high school earn their GED.

Also on our menu: Harper InZone, a summer enrichment and sports camp for children ages 8 to 14 boasting some 250 courses covering everything from basketball and fishing to cooking and fashion.

On its most basic level, it’s a surefire way to help children beat the summer boredom that inevitably, as I recall from my own childhood, starts to settle in a mere couple weeks after school lets out.

But it’s also so much more.

This program helps inspire children, which is something Harper is all about.

InZone’s goal, Continuing Education Youth Coordinator Kevin Hahn says, is to pique children’s interest in a variety of activities and potential career fields. The program gives them a chance to learn new things up-close and in a fun way, and an opportunity to try things they might not have otherwise.

This summer, participants have the opportunity to build and custom-finish their own electric guitar, jam on the harmonica with a blues legend, evaluate simulated patients and keep detailed medical charts as they learn the nitty-gritty of being a nurse, and brush up on their singing voice and their stage presence in a Broadway class that culminates with a performance for parents.

And those are just this year’s new classes.

Kids also can cook in Top Chef style; complete a film academy that includes making their own movie; try out tumbling, hip-hop dance or rock climbing; dabble in glassblowing, jewelry-making or calligraphy; make their own quilt; participate in a series of challenges modeled after Trump’s “Apprentice” show; get the basics on crime scene investigation or designing their dream home; learn debate, CPR or chess; make their own crystals, quicksand and bubblegum in a science extravaganza; build a go-green go-cart; explore animation or robotics; or plunge further into a foreign language, mythology or Harry Potter.

Many of the instructors are school teachers looking for a unique summer instructional setting; others are Harper’s own Continuing Education instructors who have adapted their material for younger students. All fit the criteria of having developed expertise in the real world in addition to their educational background. Case in point: Our film academy instructor earned a bachelor’s in theater from American University in Washington, D.C. and a master’s in acting from the University of South Carolina, and has extensive teaching experience – but she’s also appeared on TV (her credits include spots on Gilmore Girls, Crossing Jordan, ER and other shows) and in films.

It’s an impressive roster of classes and teachers, and, ideally, it’ll leave kids wanting to learn even more. InZone also brings them onto a real college campus, which can help in our effort to promote higher education early-on to area youngsters and, in doing so, inspire them to realize they can pursue it.

I first visited an InZone class a couple years ago. It was dubbed “Sky-High Rockets;” the kids had already, with the help of the instructor, created their own rockets and were launching them in one of our parking lots. Curious, I headed out with a camera and the intention of getting a few PR shots.

I ended up with my mouth agape as I stared into the sky at the soaring rockets that these children had built themselves. Those things went impressively high, and I have to admit I applauded wildly, right alongside the wowed students, and even let out an unabashed “Wow” of my own.

“You never did anything like that as a kid?” a friend asked me as I relayed the story later.

The answer: Nope. And it sure would have been fun.

I’m betting InZone’s diverse array of classes means other kids won’t ever be, like me, a thirty-something who suddenly wonders what it would have been like to build a rocket … or learn Japanese, play the ukulele, perform a cool magic trick, learn improv comedy or read an x-ray alongside a veterinarian.

They’ll have done it, and then some.

InZone classes run Monday through Thursday, with separate Friday programs available. Some classes start Monday, June 6; the program runs through Friday, August 12, with various class start times.

To register or for more details, including an InZone class schedule, call 847.925.6300 or visit www.harpercollege.edu/youth.