For three weeks every summer, a group of youngsters can be found battling robots, writing code and discovering the latest technology trends on Mercer’s Macon campus.
The Creative Computer Camps have provided engaging and enriching experiences for kids for more than 15 summers. Hosted by Dr. Bob Allen and the Department of Computer Science, the camps teach children computer skills while also encouraging their creativity.
“(Dr. Allen) really has a passion for helping young people,” said Joe Finkelstein, a retired Bibb County teacher who has helped with the camp for about a decade. “He’s a professor at Mercer, and he cares about bringing computer science to all students — elementary, middle and high school.”
This year’s camps, held May 28-June 14, were offered with the themes “Building and Controlling Robots,” “Coding in Minecraft Worlds” and “AI Explorers: Discovering the Future.” About 50 children participated each week, divided into two age groups: third to fifth grade (Panda Bears) and sixth grade and older (Grizzly Bears).
Dr. Allen, professor and chair of the computer science department, said the first summer camp was initiated and led by Kelly Carter, a Mercer faculty member who is now retired, and focused on an object-based educational programming language called Alice. The inaugural camp was a success and was expanded upon in the years following. Local teachers and high school and college students were recruited to help, and the camp moved to Willet Science Center after the Computer Science Building was torn down.
Laura Bell, a former teacher at Alexander II Math and Science Magnet School, has been a constant presence at the camps since the early years, serving as a teacher, facilitator and classroom floater. Her son, Harrison, was a camper, and she got involved when Dr. Allen wanted assistance from someone with experience working with elementary-aged kids, she said.
“Dr. Allen is the kindest, funniest, most enjoyable person to work with. No matter what I have going on each summer, I will always make time to work at computer camp with him,” Bell said.
A few years in, a federal grant administered through Georgia Tech allowed Mercer to purchase its first set of robots, and the robotics-themed camp began.
“The kids love it because you can build so many different types of things,” Dr. Allen said. “They build something, test it, tear it apart and build something else. They love their battlebots.”
The other camp themes have varied over the years, depending on what’s popular at the time. Minecraft, a video game that allows kids to build their own worlds, has been a staple for the past several years. Past camp themes have included building apps for smartphones, augmented animation, YouTube creative, Google tools, and coding through programs like Alice, EarSketch and Scratch. This summer’s AI theme was a new addition led by Finkelstein.
“My objective was to teach kids how to effectively and ethically use AI,” Finkelstein said. “Most everybody out there doesn’t really know much about AI.”
The campers explored the large language models of ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini and Copilot. They learned how to create good prompts and saw how different platforms produced different results for those prompts. They wrote a report and then used AI to adapt it so a 5-year-old could understand, and then they turned it into a nursery rhyme.
They also experimented with Dall-e, a photo generator; PlayHT, a voice generator; and Suno, a music generator. An online bulletin board called Padlet was used to showcase the students’ AI creations throughout the camp. Through these exercises, students saw how AI can be used as a tool to enhance their learning, rather than a tool for cheating, Finkelstein said.
Most of the campers are from Macon, but some come from neighboring cities, Dr. Allen said. Sometimes, the grandchildren of Mercer employees attend while they are in town visiting.
Cristina Petruso, who is the computer science department administrative assistant and handles the administrative aspects of the camp, said the kids are so excited to go to camp that they run into the building each day.
“The thing I really love is seeing the smiles on the little kids’ faces,” she said. “We have kids who have been campers and counselors and now teachers. Some of them are computer science majors. It’s a very important part of the community.”
Bell’s son, Harrison, went on to become the first Minecraft teacher for the camp.
“With few exceptions, our teenage volunteers and teachers were once little campers here,” Bell said. “In fact, my son is now a Ph.D. candidate who is completely comfortable teaching others because of the soft skills he learned teaching at Mercer computer camp. I love that we provide a way to make teaching and learning fun.”
Ayden Davis, a Mercer junior double-majoring in philosophy and business, has taught the Minecraft camp for three years now. As a child, he was a camper for several years after his family moved to Macon. Davis said he loved the camp activities and playing Minecraft, and it was nice to be able to hang out with other kids who were interested in similar things.
“It was so much fun. When I look back on summer, I remember that was the thing I was most excited to do,” said Davis, who served as a camp volunteer for two years and a paid assistant for a year before becoming a paid instructor. “Dr. Allen, he’s fantastic. I’ve got so many memories of him from when I was a kid to middle school and high school. He’s a great guy and fantastic to work with.”
Dr. Allen said it’s rewarding to see the campers’ excitement as they learn and discover technology concepts.
“It’s empowering them to know that they can control the technology world around them, whether it’s a computer screen or a robot. It’s teaching them to communicate. We call it the creative computer camp for a reason because we want them to create and go out and build and be creative with technology,” Dr. Allen said. “I feel like my passion as a teacher is computer science education. This is letting me practice what I preach.”
Social interaction is also an important part of the camp. Participants bond with their peers and teachers not only during their lessons but also during social and active time that is built into their day.
The camp is held from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., but an after-camp program gives parents the option to have their kids stay until 5 p.m. The participants start their day with a lesson in the computer lab, followed by outside playtime, another classroom session, a lunch break, and one final computer lesson in the afternoon, Dr. Allen said.
“Besides the actual content of the camps, they learn social skills like making friends, cooperation and problem-solving,” Bell said. “For example, Minecraft is usually a solitary game, but at Mercer Creative Computer Camps, they are able to work together to accomplish tasks within the educational version of the game. They often plan things together when we take outside breaks, casually calling each other by their screen names.”
Mercer’s Creative Computer Camps allow kids with similar interests to gather and forge friendships, Finkelstein said. They also learn about competitive opportunities related to computer science that they can get involved in, such as robotics and programming contests, and they gain collaborative skills.
“We have a lot of kids who are homeschooled or they’re interested in this but don’t have a lot of friends who are,” Davis said. “They get a lot of social interaction. On top of that, there’s the educational aspect. (For parents), it’s a productive day to send their kids to.”
