Gifted Kids Stay Sharp with Summer Camp

With coding, chemistry, and interesting projects, a special four week program is helping gifted kids stay sharp with summer camp.

In Norfolk, “Camp Einstein” is challenging 200 of the top elementary students in the district are learning coding, web design, and other skills at Blair Middle School.

Emily O’Malley is a rising sixth grader who is 10 years old. She is learning coding, and intends to build a website.

“I just thought it would be cool to learn how to, like, make websites and learn to write JavaScript,” she said, referring to one of the programming languages.

According to camp director Chandra Floyd, summer school is for more than remediation, it can help gifted students press ahead to explore their interests and stay sharp while having fun.

“During the school year, they get the standard curriculum, which a lot of times they may come in the first day of school already knowing,” Floyd said. “For higher-ability kids, they’re getting an exposure to something beyond that and exposure to what interests them.”