July 25, 2024 | Program Update
This week marks the end of our fourth annual Pathfinder Immersion Program summer camp. Program participants, grades 6 and up, have been meeting Monday-Friday for STEM activities, professional enrichment, and golf instruction. We will continue meeting with these participants each summer and on Saturdays throughout the school year until they graduate high school. That’s 7 years of impactful programming!
Pathfinder curriculum is designed to foster curiosity and personal growth, on and off the golf course. Our summer sessions feature a wide variety of engaging enrichment activities and memorable field trips. Here are just a few highlights from summer 2024…
Our camp kicked off with team-building games at Charleston Day School, which functioned as a home base for our Pathfinders this summer. This is our second year utilizing Charleston Day’s space, and we truly couldn’t do all that we are doing without the continued support of Catherine Skeen and the CD team.
Students have enjoyed a series of routine activities and outings each week. Routine activities included visits to Berkeley Country Club on Mondays where they received instruction from Coach Kara Cook, Coach Tank, and Coach John. Students also visited Topgolf once a week to sharpen their skills and had a chance to work with the Pros from Yeamans Hall Club (Alec Brown, Cameron Cappuzzo, Matt Harpster, Nicholas Villareal, and Tyler Morse) at Patriots Point Golf Links each Friday.
Students also participated in weekly mock trial practice sessions, etiquette lessons with Chris-Ann Streeter, chess lessons with Brian Jerauld, and STEM activities—coordinated by the YoArt team and Frank Hatten from Boeing SC’s Dream Learner Program.
A huge thank you goes to Amanda Perry, Esq. and Steve Smith, Esq. for practicing with our kids each week and organizing our fourth annual mock trial event, which took place at Mount Pleasant Town Hall July 19th. Special guests included Solicitor Scarlett Wilson, Esq. (acting as judge) and Officer Gause (acting as bailiff).
Etiquette lessons with Ms. Streeter will culminate in a special end-of-summer luncheon, and there have been whispers that our Executive Director, Bucky Dudley, intends to challenge Coach Jerauld’s most adept chess pupil to a match.
Our Pathfinders also enjoyed meeting local business leaders from Defense Engineering Services (DES), Main Ocean, Frampton Construction, Seafox Boats, Smithey Ironware, Synovus, and Volvo to learn about each respective industry.
Additional enrichments included a tour of the International African American History Museum, a horticulture therapy lesson at MUSC, visiting the Mace Brown Museum of Natural History at the College of Charleston, hands-on learning activities with the NASA Space Grant Consortium, and a boat-based field trip to the ACE Basin National Estuarine Research Reserve. Students also heard from guest speakers at Charleston Day School. Officer Rice taught us everything we need to know about routine traffic stops, and Dr. Anthony Oddo spoke with us about health and hygiene.
And what summer would be complete without outings that are purely fun? Play-based field trips included bowling, escape rooms, a ropes course, TIPS Golf Club, a girls’ outing at Wild Dunes to play with the Wild Dunes Ladies Golf Association, and a boys’ trip to Wedgefield Country Club in Georgetown. Our Pathfinders even had an opportunity to play a few holes at Kiawah Island Club’s beautiful Cassique course.
Hats off to our remarkable team, Lead Coach Lerone Johnson, Assistant Coach Maya Timmons, and Camp Counselors Mason Auker, Jermylah Breeland, Esther Etherington, and Larry Goss, for coordinating 6 amazing weeks of activities, meals, and transportation for our students. And, of course, none of that would be possible without tremendous community support.
There are many ways to get involved with our Pathfinder Immersion Program. Please contact Coach Johnson to explore mentor opportunities and enrichment partnerships, or consider a monthly gift to support continued program growth.
July 29, 2024 | UPDATE: Our Pathfinders celebrated the end of summer camp and all that they’ve learned with a special luncheon at Lamar’s Sporting Club. Thank you to our Etiquette instructor, Chris-Anne Streeter, for helping us develop the skills needed for such an occasion, and many thanks to Lamar Bonaparte and his team for their hospitality.