Middle schoolers explore their futures during My Tomorrow

Thursday, July 17, 2025

photos by Alexandra Butler, photographer/photo editor, except as credited

Middle schoolers attending My Tomorrow, a Penn College camp devoted to helping them explore their career futures, are appropriately framed for this photo opportunity. The college hosted two sold-out My Tomorrow sessions.

The campus opened its labs to middle schoolers during two sessions of My Tomorrow, a Penn College summer camp that helps participants preview a variety of careers.

Fifty-five campers attended hands-on sessions in the college’s three academic schools and took part in team-building and career exploration activities.

“This was the first year that we did a culminating activity that involved the campers doing a presentation of their week in review,” said Chuck D. Crews Jr., assistant director for secondary partnerships, the office responsible for the camp. “It was very well received, especially by the parents!”

In addition to Secondary Partnerships, faculty from across campus were instrumental in providing activities in their labs. Also playing key roles were staff from the Michael J. Hudock Center for Academic Excellence and other offices.

My Tomorrow is made more affordable for participants by a gift from the Soars family.

Learn more about Penn College summer camps at www.pct.edu/summer-camps.

Campers from the first My Tomorrow session – held June 23-27 – gather to commemorate their experience. The second session was held July 7-11.

In the physical therapist assistant lab, campers take on a multi-tasking balancing act.

The career explorers exercise their cores while learning how physical therapist assistants help patients.

A fun physics lesson, courtesy of assistant professor Joeseph E. LeBlanc: Why do highlighters glow in UV light?

Showing off their new look! (Photo provided by Secondary Partnerships.)

Fortunately, it washed off. (Photo provided by Secondary Partnerships.)

In nursing, campers listen to the life-like sounds of “SimMom.”

Teams work together to transform pieces of wood into a geodesic dome.

Blair D. Soars, whose family financially supports the My Tomorrow camps, interacts with participants. Soars is president/CEO of Pneu-Dart Inc. (Photo provided by Secondary Partnerships.)

In the baking lab, participants watch a demo by pizza-dough-tossing expert Christopher R. Kelley, dining services leader II.

Campers take a cue from Kelley.

The hand-tossed dough looks even better with toppings!

Under the direction of Carly L. Herman (left), chemical hygiene officer, campers watch a solution change color.

Participants make careful observations of what happens to objects when they drop them into a liquid-filled beaker.

Campers race their vehicles down a wooden track in an automotive lab. The activity was led by Christopher J. Holley (center), associate professor of automotive. (Photo provided by Secondary Partnerships.)

More chemical reactions help campers mix up a gooey polymer in a plastics lab. (Photo provided by Secondary Partnerships.)

A session in the surgical technology labs has the young teens practicing the role, from gowning and gloving to trying the tools of laparoscopic surgery. (Photo provided by Secondary Partnerships.)

In the graphic design lab, campers try their hand at creating new letter styles. (Photo provided by Secondary Partnerships.)

Hand-drawn word art. (Photo provided by Secondary Partnerships.)

Alex E. Marconnet, instructor of engineering design, guides campers through a bridge-building exercise. (Photo provided by Secondary Partnerships.)

A group checks out the 9-foot stainless steel motorcycle near the entrance of the Lycoming Engines Metal Trades Center. The "chopper" was crafted by students, with floral flair added to the wheels by well-known metal artist Rae Ripple. (Photo provided by Secondary Partnerships.)

William A. Schlosser, instructor of emergency management and homeland security, uses topographic models to help campers think through what a community would need in an emergency. (Photo provided by Secondary Partnerships.)