The Cumberland Business Incubator was full of young life last week. We hosted two different youth camps – Make Camp, our 3rd annual week long camp, and Maker Girl, a special 3D printing camp for 1st grade to 6th grade girls.
Make Camp brought 16 campers together from our local area, Florida, Ohio, and Arizona. There were a variety of projects to work on daily as well as teambuilding and leadership skill training built into the outdoor activities each day. More pictures are available at our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/cumberlandincubator.
It takes a village to put on Make Camp each year. Special thanks go out to our volunteers and artists that made camp a success; Vince D’Alessandro, Tom McDunn, Annie Schultz, Paul Falk, Carol Judy, John Cole, Harold Schultz, Cumberland Mountain State Park Ranger Holly, Rita Reali, Mark Lenham, Marcia Hitabidle, Roger Pearson, Susie Randleman and Wayne Schobel, Lynn Falk, Heather Booth and Emily.
Financial supporters for Make Camp 2016 include Roane State Community College and Lake Tansi Exchange Club. Make Camp 2017 will be held the week of June 19-23, 2017. Registration will begin mid-April, 2017.
Maker Girl occurred on the final day of Make Camp. Students from the University of Illinois making a cross county trip providing 3d printing to girls that might not learn to use the technology otherwise. The CBI was one of their stops this summer. At the start of each camp session they ask the girls to think about their future and what they might like to be doing. We were very impressed with the ideas our Maker Girl campers came up with including becoming a babysitter, 2 who wanted to be chefs and a biologist! The girls used Tinkercad to create a design that might include a representation of their future interest.
Our campers designed keychains with their names or areas of interest, a layered cake with CHEF on the top, a chef’s hat, and a butterfly made from three initials as well as other creations. Each camper used a 3D printer to print their design to take home. Campers were invited to sign the Maker Girl trailer, bringing smiles to all.
Maker Girl campers came from far and wide including Sequachie, Bledsoe, Fentress and Cumberland Counties in Tennessee, Florida, Ohio and Arizona.
Special thanks go to the Fairfield Glade Rotary Club for their scholarships that allowed Crossville Housing Authority and Kids on the Rise girls to attend Maker Girl camp and to Paul and Lynn Falk who hosted the team of University of Illinois students. If the Maker Girls have a tour in 2017 we will certainly invite them to stop in Crossville again!
