STAR Touts New Offerings

STAR summer camp selections this year are unconventional, varied and new. Additionally, STAR will take $10 off per week if a parent signs up by May 1. If a child is registered for four or more weeks, $60 may be deducted from the total fee.
Longtime Palisadian Deann Wilken has been the STAR director at Marquez Elementary for more than 20 years and also oversees the STAR program at Canyon Elementary, Palisades Elementary, Kenter Canyon and Topanga.
This year STAR is also offering counselor-in-training camps for youth in grades seven through nine at various sites.
Incoming kindergarten children can enjoy one-week sessions that introduce them to classrooms—and science, art, music and movement. Camps are available at Marquez (June 10 to August 9) and Canyon (July 15 to August 2).
For LEGO lovers in grades one through four, the Pirates vs. Ninjas week takes construction to a swashbuckling zenith.
The artistically inclined child might prefer Art Studio, a camp that includes working with paints, pastels, watercolors charcoals and clay (grades 1 -6).
If your children are glued to the Food Channel, get them away from the television by signing them up for Food Truck Mania, where they will master the culinary skills needed to whip up the cuisine found in food trucks (grades 1-6).
Or select the ever-popular RockSTAR, where kids in grades one through eight not only perform with a band, but also learn to create a music video.
For kids who prefer the more traditional musical-theater performance, a chance to perform in “Charlotte’s Web” is an option for first through eighth graders.
A more cerebral kid might prefer Chess Champs, where beginners and returning players alike are encouraged to learn tactical moves under the tutelage of patient instructors. STAR chess teams have earned national rankings, and five STAR players rank in the top 50 nationwide.
Science camps include the physics of Angry Birds, Exploding Chemistry (learning about chemical reactions) and S.T.E.M. (science, technology, engineering, and math). In S.T.E.M., students learn how to program a robot, have a scavenger hunt using iPads and learn how doctors are making custom 3D body parts.
Woodworking, which includes using hammer, hacksaw and miter box, will appeal to the construction-oriented, while Fashion Forward teaches clothing design and how to sew one’s own styles.
If your student struggled this past year academically, there are summer school classes for grades one through six, which include math and reading instruction from a credentialed instructor. In the afternoon, a student can choose an enrichment subject.
STAR is a nonprofit program selected as a “Model Program” by the White House and the U.S. Department of Education. Camps at Marquez STAR start June 10 and continue through August 2. Extended hours are from 8 to 9 a.m. and 3 to 6 p.m.
Visit: STARcamps.com or call (310) 842-8040.