Summer camp 2026

A partnership between East Athens Development Corporation and Aaron Heard Community Center

READING

Each session, Campers had the opportunity to read about their interests, special events, and other material from the library located within the Aaron Heard Community Center. They were supported Clarke County School District educators and other volunteers, and were given the chance to read on their own or in small groups.

Writing

During writing, campers were able to write about their interests, their families, and many other fun topics. Students were able to build their writing skills, learning about grammar, parts of speech, and other vital aspects of writing. We loved seeing all of the effort and progress made by our YLP campers!

Math

Campers were able to review content learned throughout the school year and be challenged with content they will be learning in the upcoming year. They were given competitive opportunities to develop their mathematical skills further, and we discovered many future Mathematicians in our group!

Oh so much fun!

Group Discussion

Campers were given daily "Would You Rather" questions, and had the opportunity to think, pair, and share their thoughts! We've got a lot of creative thinkers in this group!

Affirmations

Each morning, campers went through an affirmation's song. We believe our campers are capable of incredible things, and we want them to believe that too!

Dance Party!

Sometimes, you just have to dance! We love seeing our campers express themselves through dance, and it's a great way to get some energy about before we turn to learning!

Celebrating Freedom!

Juneteenth

Campers learned about the history of Juneteenth and its significance in our community. The importance of Juneteenth and Black History was discussed, and campers were given the opportunity to participate in activities centered around the holiday.

The 4th of July

Campers learned about the history of July 4th and celebrated with their peers. They participated in activities centered around the holiday while also engaging in educational activities that built their reading and writing skills.

Stem workshops

Led by Dr. Arthur Hinton and Dr. Bernard Wheatley of Omega Psi Phi, the campers were able to participate in two STEM workshops. They learned about biology, chemistry, and physics through hands on activities, such as:

Writing invisible messages
Testing hypothesis about salt and sugar melting ice
Creating chemical reactions with baking soda, vinegar, and lemons
Experimenting with kinetic energy using balloons, pennies, and metal nuts
Creating shapes out of water and toothpicks - no hands!
And so many more fun experiments!

We hope to see many of our campers be future scientists!

Music day

Many of our campers love to talk about their favorite music, so we decided to bring it to them! During this session, campers were about to listen to a live mashup of some of their favorite songs AND to come up with a song or dance of their own. Maybe one day, your favorite song will be written by one of these incredible kids!

And some special events...

Field trip to Athens-Ben Epps airport

We had the opportunity to take our campers on a tour of Athens-Ben Epps Airport. Campers learned about the history of the airport, and the significance that Ben Epps played in the progress of flight. They were given the chance to tour the onsite fire station, the air traffic control tower, and more! They were able to hear communications between piolets and the tower, as well as take a turn moving the turret on the fire truck. What a day for these kids!

Field Day!

EADC had the opportunity to host a field day for all of the campers at Aaron Heard Community Center's camp. Over eighty campers were able to participate in bouncy houses, kickball, soccer, football, water games, tug 'o war, and face painting. Our community partners were able to grill hamburgers and hot dogs for all of our kids and provide a nice treat!