Summer Camp Breeds Innovation in Belmont Children

The innovative minds behind Galileo Learning made sure not to beat around the bush when titling their summer camp. 

“Galileo Galilei was a great innovator and had a lot of ideas in his time that were not particularly popular, but he believed very strongly in them and was not satisfied to just stick to the status quo,” said Julie Eglington, Marketing and Communications Manager of Galileo Learning.

Galileo Camp, a seven-week summer program focusing on arts, science and outdoor activities, kicked off June 20 at , and will run through Aug. 5.

The camp, which got its start in Palo Alto in 2001 and is currently celebrating its 10th anniversary, is designed for students from Pre-K to fifth grade, and has made Cipriani one of its summer homes since 2005.

And if the name is any indication, helping to develop creative minds is its mission.

“Galileo Learning’s mission is to develop innovators who can envision and create a better world,” Eglington said. “We have an approach to learning called the ‘Galileo Innovation Approach,’ which is our idea that kids need to be empowered to be innovators rather than just sitting and absorbing information.”

The ‘Galileo Innovation Approach,’ according to Eglington, comes in three components: mindset, knowledge and process.

Mindset focuses on kids believing that they have the ability to change the world, knowledge deals with affording kids with a prior understanding of what it is they seek to accomplish, and process revolves around teaching children how to develop ideas, design a plan, and setting positive goals.

“We try to bring that into all the curriculum that we teach so the kids are really learning an approach to solving problems that will last them beyond just what we’re doing at camp,” Eglington said.

Over the seven weeks the kids spend at the camp, each week focuses on a separate activity. In Week One of this year’s Belmont camp, the theme was ‘Detective in Paris,’ and Week Two’s is aimed at toy innovation.

One week, they’re doing "‘Inventor’s Workshop,’ where they’re designing toys in science class, and learning about graphic design and creating packaging for the toys in art class,” Eglington said.

Galileo Learning has seen immense success at the Cipriani summer camp, as camp attendance has continued to blossom by the year.

In addition, 2011 also represents a milestone in retention for the local summer camp.

“This is actually our biggest year in Belmont so far,” Eglington said. “I spoke to the camp director and she said that they actually have a handful of campers this year who are fifth graders and they started with us as kindergarteners. So they’ve been with us for six full years, which is pretty exciting.”

“I think we’re doing something right over there,” she added.

For more information on Galileo Camp, visit galileo-learning.com.