Alongside a mountain lake in the Tahoe National Forest, students in grades 6-8 from San Joaquin County explored art and science at the three-day Color the Outdoors STEAM sleepaway camp in June at the SJCOE’s Sky Mountain Outdoor Education Center.
In this digital age, the camp is a place where students can discover that they don’t need to rely on screens to express themselves or find happiness, said Erika Chapman, Student Engagement and the Arts director. 
“They get to actually reflect on themselves and find what brings joy, what brings peace, and to connect and learn skills that help them grow their confidence,” she said. “It’s helping students discover who they truly are.”
Working with SJCOE staff from Student Engagement and the Arts and STEM Programs departments, the camp comes to life through the high school students and recent graduates serving as cabin leaders.
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They brought their own  passion for the arts and science, leading the campers through a series of activities. 
Marvin, a recent graduate from Edison High School (Stockton Unified School District) felt he was honoring his own music teacher when working with the young campers. “I just hope that I can be as inspiring to them as my teacher was to me – and just make music fun.”
He was one of the leaders in an activity where  campers learned the fundamentals of music. In another, they built their confidence in fun improvisational theater exercises. Science and the arts came together in another activity where campers arranged leaves and flowers on photosensitive paper to create works of art while learning how the sunlight reacts with the iron found in the paper. 
When finished with the rotating activities, students took a deep dive into one of four focus areas: theater, music, science, or visual arts. And there was still plenty of time for swimming and canoeing at the lake.
In the evenings they sang around the campfire. In friendly competitions, a cabin could win the privilege of holding onto the camp’s life-sized cutout of famed television artist Bob Ross.
Jaliyah, a seventh grader at Lathrop Elementary School (Manteca Unified School District) said making art in this environment was sure to inspire the next generation of artists. “There are going to be a lot of future Bob Rosses coming from here.”
A separate Color the Outdoors STEAM day camp was held earlier in the month for students in grades 3-5 at the SJCOE’s Durham Ferry Outdoor Education Center.
The camps were organized by the SJCOE’s STEM Programs and Student Engagement and the Arts departments.