This page contains the material submitted to the local paper - The Davis Enterprise - for Explorit Science Center's news column published in that paper on Fridays.

With only two more weeks of school left, children are looking forward to a summer of travel, play, and fun. It’s not too late to include Explorit Science Center in your summer plans.

Explorit offers ten weeks of week-long science classes for children entering grades 1 - 5 in the fall. For middle school and high school students, Explorit has many opportunities to volunteer throughout the summer.

Explorit’s summer classes provide fun and educational experiences that engage children in experimenting, investigating, exploring and doing science. One parent whose child participated in classes last summer said, “This was the best camp he has been to.” Another parent commented that, “The class was so great. My child was skeptical on going to class in the first place but ended up having a great experience!”

While many of Explorit’s classes are already full, there are spaces available in the “Big Backyard” class for 1st and 2nd graders, the “Outdoor Adventures” class for 3rd through 5th graders, and in classes that investigate chemistry, construction, and the science of film and photography. This summer, Explorit is offering more classes than ever before. There will be more hands-on fun, more experiments and more learning.

Children attending classes will investigate the outside world by taking nature walks and meeting live animals. They will draw their own blue prints and create and construct their own buildings. They will also learn the science behind photography while taking their own photographs and making a model of a camera. For a complete listing of available classes, visit Explorit’s Web site at www.explorit.org.

Explorit is also looking for volunteers to work with children during summer classes. Volunteers work directly with children—setting up experiments, answering questions, fostering curiosity and encouraging learning.

Working under the supervision of the education staff, volunteers learn about classroom management, inquiry-based learning, and child development while teaching children about physics, chemistry, biology and even photography. Volunteers also engage in doing science themselves and always have fun getting messy and making their own science projects along with the students!

Volunteers must be able to commit at least twenty hours a week for only two weeks of the summer and must be at least 14 years old. For people interested in working with children, pursuing a career in the sciences, building their resume—for work or college—or fulfilling a community service requirement, volunteering at Explorit can be the perfect way to spend some or all of the summer.

For more information about volunteering or to register your child in one of Explorit’s summer classes, please call (530) 756-0191. Classes begin June 17 and run through August 23. Come join the fun!

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