Distinguished visitors got a first-hand look at the first-ever Canadian offering of popular STEM camp

Oshawa, ON – Durham College (DC) hosted several dignitaries from the government, educational and corporate sectors on July 10 for the National Inventors Hall of Fame™ (NIHF) Reception in the Centre for Collaborative Education’s Global Classroom at the Oshawa campus. During the event, guests took a tour of the first-ever Canadian offering of Camp Invention™, taking place at DC from July 8 to 12, and spoke with camp educators and participants of the non-profit summer enrichment program.

In attendance was U.S. Consul General Greg Stanford; Mayor Dan Carter, City of Oshawa; and John Wrycraft and Evan Bombino of technology leader Johnson Controls Inc., as well as Amy Gorecki, executive director, and Nathalie Rudner, president-elect, of the Science Teachers’ Association of Ontario/L’Association des professeurs de sciences de l’Ontario.

Camp Invention is a program developed by the non-profit NIHF, in partnership with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It provides a unique experience for children to learn about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). National Inventors Hall of Fame (Canada) is the Canadian non-profit organization responsible for introducing NIHF’s ground-breaking innovation ecosystem to young inventors in Canada. The one-week program was funded by the United States Embassy in Ottawa and U.S. Consulate in Toronto.

Overseen by four teachers from both the Durham District School Board and Durham Catholic District School Board, and five counsellors, Camp Invention’s 2019 Supercharged™ program allows campers the opportunity to learn about ocean navigation and survival skills on a remote island, conduct mock DNA tests on farm animals and learn to protect their own ideas. As an added bonus, at the end of the week, each camper will bring home a robot. For more information about Camp Invention, visit invent.org/camp.

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About Durham College

At Durham College (DC), the student experience comes first. With campuses in Oshawa and Whitby and a learning site in Pickering, the college offers more than 13,600 full-time post-secondary and apprenticeship students access to more than 140 full-time and eight apprenticeship programs in a number of different disciplines, enabling them to develop the skills required to meet the demands of today’s job market. The college has also launched its first four-year degree program, the Honours Bachelor of Health Care Technology Management, in September 2018.

The Oshawa campus features the state-of-the-art Student Services building and the Centre for Collaborative Education, a legacy project tied to DC’s 50th anniversary in 2017. The newly-opened facility brings together local, Indigenous and global communities, providing a new home for several of the college’s most innovative and ground-breaking programs.

The Whitby campus features the award-winning W. Galen Weston Centre for Food, which includes Bistro ’67, a full-service, teaching-inspired restaurant, and Pantry, a retail store featuring food prepared by students in the college’s culinary programs.

For more information, visit www.durhamcollege.ca or call 905.721.2000.

Media contact:
Shelly Kowalski
Durham College
Communications and Marketing
905.721.2000 ext. 2197
shelly.kowalski@durhamcollege.ca