A common question we get is “who are our teachers”? It’s so common that we wrote this article about it. A brief answer to this question is on our FAQ page, along with many other frequently asked questions.
Our summer camp teachers are professional educators, typically from local school systems. Most of our teachers are elementary or middle-school teachers during the school year in nearby public and private schools. Some educators are long-term substitute teachers. And some summer camp teachers are education majors currently doing their student-teaching. All of our camp instructors have an educational background or a degree in teaching.
Our summer camp teachers are also knowledgeable and passionate about STEAM. They know classroom management and how to properly educate children. Our staff members believe our mission — to empower every child to find their own passions and purpose. Every Classroom Antics teacher goes through preparatory training from our home-office staff for the classes they will teach.
Why hire teachers instead of technology “experts”?
This is a very legitimate question that has been asked before. If presented with the opportunity to hire a technology expert or a teacher to lead our classes, why would we hire a teacher? Our Columbus camp manager, Dave Stoll, summarizes this best:
- Teachers are experts in teaching — meaning, teachers can take virtually any content and deliver it in a meaningful and age-appropriate way for kids to grasp. Technology “experts” do not necessarily always make good teachers.
- Much of what Classroom Antics teaches are problem-solving skills, story-telling skills, and coding language. Teachers understand those skills and can compact them for young learners, whereas, technology “experts” may understand complexities, but rarely can explain the fundamentals in age-appropriate terms that children can understand. They certainly know the technology, because that’s their specialty, but they may not understand how to teach it.
- Teachers undergo routine background checks, licensure update, and continuing education. Often this is overlooked, but this is huge when creating a safe space for our campers week after week throughout the summer.
Background checks
All summer camp teaching applicants receive an extensive background check.
First, we perform a residency check that identifies every location an applicant has lived and we conduct local, county, and nationwide searches for criminal convictions. We also search the terrorist watch list and national sex offender registry. And when appropriate, maiden names and aliases are also searched.
If any suspicious or unsettling information is found during our search, we do not hire that applicant. Safety is our #1 priority at camp.
What camps do our teachers teach?
Classroom Antics provides STEAM summer camps in-person in Ohio and Michigan and nationwide virtually. Our summer camp teachers lead our classes for kids ages 7-13. From programming robots and building with LEGO, to building landscapes and animating stories, kids walk away from camp inspired by their new knowledge.
Kids entering this field today become the men and women in STEAM career fields in the future. At camp, kids play with a passion that lasts long after they leave. Whether your child wants to invent the next Twitter, build the next iPhone, or develop virtual real estate, our classes set their sails.
