Friday, July 25, 2025
photos by Alexandra Butler, photographer/photo editor, except as credited
Automotive Technology is among 11 summer camps offered by Penn College July 16-19 for students in grades nine-12. The camps attracted 200 teens.
While most college campuses are known to slow down during the summer, Penn College’s labs were bustling last week as 11 summer camps brought high school students to the college for a hands-on exploration of careers and college life.
More than 200 high schoolers from 10 states – and Vietnam – attended, spending their nights in Rose Street Commons residence halls and their days engrossed in activity. The wide-ranging camps, held July 13-19, comprised Architecture Odyssey; Automotive Technology; Aviation; Design, Build & Grow Landscape & Horticulture; Diesel Truck & Heavy Equipment; Future Restaurateurs; Graphic Design Summer Studio; Have Your Cake & Decorate It Too; Health Careers; Polymer Innovators; and Wildcat Disaster Management Academy.
In addition to their on-campus activities, several of the camps made field trips, courtesy of industry partners. Architecture Odyssey visited Brix Design Group and Larson Design Group; Aviation campers toured the Piper Museum; Polymer Innovators went to West Pharmaceutical Services Williamsport; and Health Careers campers were welcomed at UPMC Williamsport and Geisinger Muncy hospitals. Diesel Truck & Heavy Equipment camp participants spent time at the college’s Heavy Equipment Operations Training Site for demonstrations by Groff Tractor & Equipment, which sponsored the camp.
In addition to providing a taste of student life, the camps also provide the opportunity to earn up to $2,000 off Penn College tuition.
To learn more about Penn College’s Summer Camps, visit www.pct.edu/summer-camps.
An Automotive Technology camper practices tire alignment.
A Geisinger Life Flight helicopter and crew make their traditional landing on the Madigan Library lawn for Health Careers Camp, providing perspective on their lifesaving work.
Campers practice the skills of emergency management during the Wildcat Disaster Management Academy.
Design, Build & Grow Landscape & Horticulture camp participants design floral arrangements under the lead of Karen R. Ruhl (far right), part-time instructor of horticulture.
A camper tries his hand behind the controls of a backhoe at the college’s Heavy Equipment Operations Training Site. The camp was sponsored by GT&E. (Photo by Rachel Heiser, graphic design and content manager for Groff Tractor & Equipment)
At the Heavy Equipment Operations Training Site, participants in the Diesel Truck & Heavy Equipment camp observe a peer’s digging work. (Photo by Rachel Heiser, graphic design and content manager for Groff Tractor & Equipment)
Campers spread frosting on one of several cakes they would make at Have Your Cake and Decorate It Too, where they learned introductory and advanced skills using buttercream, fondant and gum paste.
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