The CS building was the chosen campground for many sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth graders. From June 20th through June 26th the 2004 CS Summer Camps made the Purdue CS building a hot spot for any 10-14 year old. The department offered 2 different camps, one for beginners and another for advanced students. Each camp was a 4-day camp in which campers were introduced to Computer Science and computer programming. It is so much better than those chigger infested, scary story telling camps, it's computer camp!

This year the CS Summer Camps welcomed campers from all over. CS Outreach/Camp Coordinator, Mindy Hart, reported campers from various parts of Indiana as far south as Salem and as far north as Gary and South Bend. CS also had campers from Indianapolis, Kokomo, and Illinois. These youth spent their star filled camping nights in the mosquito free computer labs, lego construction zones, and the Purdue Envision Center.

Beginner campers focused on programming using Lego Robotics and Web page design. This camp was open to students who are entering grades 6th-8th, need no previous CS or programming expertise, and should be comfortable using a computer. Advanced campers are entering grades 7th-9th, are required to have attended a previous CS summer camp, or have some computer programming and Web page design experience.

In addition to all the programming and building, campers got the chance to stay in Shreve Hall and spend a fun night out on the town. For fun night this year, camp staff took the CS campers to Bruno's pizzeria and they watched a movie. The beginner camp watched Harry Potter and the advance camp watched Around the World in 80 Days. While away at camp, they also enjoyed an ice cream social, internet scavenger hunts, a guest speaker from CS Corporate Partner, Raytheon, an introduction to Tablet PCs, mixing with other young men and women who are interested in Computer Science, and the big LEGO ROBOT competition.

Each camp participated in a different competition. The beginners' camp went robot bowling. The challenge of the competition was to build and program a lego robot to essentially act as a bowling ball. Their robot was sent down an alley to knock down pins. The group with the highest bowling score left as the 2004 Lego Robot Champs. It was a fight until the end with 3 tie breakers needed to determine the winners.

Advanced camp also built lego robots. However, their competition further honed their programming skills. Their bots had to be programmed to go Around the World in 80 days. Camp staff assembled an obstacle course campers had to navigate their robots through. The course included traveling through the London Bridge, following a line under the Eiffel Tower, and crossing a ramp through the jungle. Points were awarded for each task based upon the level of difficulty and the level of completion.

The CS campers wrapped up their stay at Purdue with a project showcase at Seattle Beanery. Camp staff played a video overview of the week, and presented campers a certificate of completion. Camper's then said their heartfelt goodbyes to new friends in hopes of seeing them all again next year at CS Summer Camp, or in about 4-6 years as a CS freshman.

Special thanks goes to Caterpillar, Intel, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Motorola, and Raytheon for their support of our Outreach Programs.