Summer Camps

The phrase “classrooms without walls” is more than a metaphor at High Rocks. It is the literal experience of a High Rocks summer education.

It is a learning culture where young people study patterns and probabilities in the dappled light of a hickory grove, where they explore business concepts of entrepreneurship while listening to the negotiations of nearby chickadees, where they contemplate world religions and philosophies while lying in the grass of an open meadow. It is in this setting that participants become aware of their true potential.

High Rocks began in 1996 as a residential summer camp on a mountainside to help participants prepare for high school with a positive outlook about themselves and their abilities. For over 20 years, participants have realized their potential by overcoming insecurities and fears of horses, math, writing, public speaking, and making new friends. They have shared ideas in a supportive community of adults and peers. By the end of the summer, they are ready to start a new school year full of confidence and hope for the future. In short, summer camps are the heart of High Rocks. They matter because they work.

This program is presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

NEW BEGINNINGS CAMP – June 16 - 29, 2024

Summer2New Beginning Camp remains the doorway for most participants to enter the High Rocks Academy Program. Admission is open for current seventh grade students and current eighth grade participants. It also includes leadership roles for young adults and college interns and welcomes staff from a network of professional men and women from around the country.

For more information on upcoming camp dates, please see our calendar.

 

“Camp was a life-changing experience for me, one I will never forget!” – New Beginnings Camp Participant

CAMP STEELE – July 13 - 28, 2024

12072560_784506841659280_1865952827208217536_nCamp Steele is High Rocks’ camp for older students and has different tracks in a variety of interest areas including art, media, social movements, construction, food culture, and robotics from which girls can choose from. Tracks are like mini college seminars providing more in-depth learning than most girls have experienced in other academic settings. Admission is open to rising eighth through twelfth-grade students in our service area as well as students from other youth programs in the region.

For more information on upcoming camp dates, please see our calendar.

 

“I want to do something other than sit around and take up space. I want to learn, instead of sitting around on electronics. I want to make a difference in the world, to make it a better place. A change is like a ripple in water, it starts out small, but then it grows. I want to be that first small ripple of change.” – Camp Steele Participant