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Academic Summer Camps

July 13-25, 2025

Come to Roberts Wesleyan University to experience what it is like as a Roberts Wesleyan Redhawk!

Spend up to two weeks as a Roberts Wesleyan student when you participate in one of our overnight Academic Summer Camps. Have one-on-one access to faculty and professionals in your chosen camp. Not only will you experience campus life as a Roberts Wesleyan University student, you will also experience what Rochester, NY has to offer with our city outings! Camps run Sunday-Friday the weeks of July 13 and July 20, 2025, with an optional weekend stay. The cost of camp includes meals, overnight stay, camp experiences, labs, and more.

Open to high school students entering their sophomore, junior, or senior year in the fall of 2025. Registration for each camp is limited to the first 24 students to sign up and submit their registration fees.

Registration Coming Soon

Click below for a description of each of our 11 academic camps:

Week One | July 13-18, 2025

Are you interested in helping people of all ages participate in daily living and impact their lives?

Spend a week learning about the clients, groups and populations occupational therapists (OTs) work with; the different settings OTs work in, and the variety of everyday life activities (occupations) OT provides to promote health, well-being, and the ability to participate in the important activities in client’s lives.

  • Learn about occupational therapy from faculty and RWU students.
  • Discover the wide range of settings an occupational therapist can work in.
  • Do you like to eat? Hear about how OT’s involvement in feeding can impact children and their families.
  • Engage in fun and hands-on learning activities that highlight areas of everyday life activities (occupations) your client might engage in.
  • Observe client occupational therapy intervention at RWU and/or community.
  • Learn the about becoming OT certified and being a valuable healthcare team member.

Do you like taking pictures and creating stories with video?

Spend a week as a photographer and filmmaker. Learn the essentials of visual storytelling using professional-level DSLR cameras, video production and audio equipment. Explore the importance of composition, lighting, depth of field, color, and more that can make even your smartphone images and videos more cinematic.

  • Explore production topics each day including: filming interviews, shooting “b-roll”, video editing, photojournalism, and photo/video for marketing.
  • Collaborate, produce, film, and edit a short documentary film in small production groups.
  • Learn the rules and when to break them as you capture the world around you during walking field trips.

Do you enjoy working with people to solve problems and promote positive change?

Spend a week learning about the diverse settings where social work professionals are employed and how they support individuals, families, organizations, and communities in meeting their goals.

Roberts Wesleyan University Social Work faculty will provide, through engaging discussion and activities, an overview of what social workers do and how they advocate for change.

  • Learn about the almost unlimited settings in which social work professionals help people and advocate for change including schools, healthcare facilities, community agencies, mental health clinics, and policy/lawmaking arenas.
  • Learn about the diverse populations social workers serve and the bio/psycho/social/spiritual/cultural perspective.
  • Take a guided field trip around Rochester that illuminates some of our community’s biggest challenges – and strengths!
  • Learn about the Social Work Code of Ethics and how these principles guide our efforts in social and environmental justice.
  • Engage with peers in hands-on intervention activities used by social workers when working with clients, and learn about how we evaluate the effectiveness of our work.

Do you love solving mysteries? If so, you will love our CSI and Forensics Camp at Roberts!

Come spend a week immersed in crime scene investigation. From collecting evidence to analyze the evidence in a lab, you will process a simulated crime scene and work with a group to solve the crime. This camp will provide you with hands-on experience in the field of forensic science. CSI examines multiple aspects of how law enforcement teams conduct a criminal investigation. You will be part of a group that works on a week-long crime scenario that needs to be solved.

  • Discover how a professional collects evidence and processes a crime scene.
  • Gain experience collecting evidence from a simulated crime scene. Perform laboratory experiments to analyze the evidence with current instrumentation.
  • Meet with K9, SWAT, and Criminal Intelligence Specialists
  • Discover how professional units approach criminal investigation.
  • Gain experience solving crimes through mock crime scenes and tactical simulators.

Interested in building your leadership skills, becoming a problem-solver, developing strategic thinking, and expanding your creativity? This Business Leadership Camp is for YOU!

No matter what field you are interested in joining in the future, having a strong business foundation can prove valuable. Leadership, strategic thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and team building skills are explored during this interactive business summer camp. This camp will focus on Business Leadership. Students will learn key aspects of what it takes to be a successful business leader while having fun through roleplay, faculty instruction, strategy games, hands-on activities and more.

Are you interested in the medical field?

Spend a week learning about medical professions and explore possible pathways to medical school and other health professions. You will learn more about the field of medicine and participate in hands-on medical simulations.

  • Participate in medical simulations in our state-of-the-art simulation center and analyze medical case studies to diagnose mock patients.
  • Perform a series of animal dissections including the heart and lungs, kidney and brain.
  • Conduct a genetics experiment using molecular techniques to determine your genotype for a particular taste gene.
  • Learn how to suture (i.e. stitches).

Week Two | July 20-25, 2025

Come explore various topics in STEM. STEM Camp is designed to teach you about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math while giving you the opportunity to explore different concepts and enhance your education outside the traditional classroom.

  • Interactions of light (lasers), diffraction and wave interference, leading to Quantum Information Science applications such as cryptography and interferometry.
  • Hands-on models will be used, including spectral observations, a quantum coin toss (quantum security), a student-built interferometer or telescope, Glowscipt (Python) computer simulations, TinkerCAD 3D printing, and the Quantum Odyssey video game exploring quantum bits, qubits, gates, and entanglement.
  • A field trip (weather permitting) for star and planet gazing aided by the Star Walk app and Stellarium software.

Are you interested in becoming a nurse?

Spend a week in the life of a registered nurse. With the help of the latest cutting-edge technology and expert clinicians at Roberts Wesleyan University, you will learn to work as a vital member of the healthcare team.

  • Practice basic assessment and nursing skills in our state of the art practice and simulation labs.
  • Participate in simulations with high fidelity manikins that have a heart rate, blood pressure, breathe, and talk.
  • Explore the vast career opportunities in the field of nursing and what it takes to be a nurse today.

Interested in developing your creative writing skills?

Spend a week thinking and training yourself to work as a professional creative writer. Learn new writing strategies and engage in multiple genres to explore what areas of strength you may want to develop further. Resources and daily writing prompts are provided to allow students a challenging but caring environment to grow as an artist and creative writer.

Would you like to understand people better? Would you like to learn more about the science of Psychology?

Spend a week learning about psychology and the breadth of vocational paths that it offers. Expect to learn a lot more about yourself and the people around you as you participate in a variety of activities.

  • Develop an understanding of behavioral and emotional disorders.
  • Learn about experiments that shocked the world! Spend some guided time online exploring the breadth of careers available to someone who studies psychology.
  • Develop some techniques for becoming a natural helper.
  • Discover how play can be used to help people in counseling.
  • Experience the use of psychological measures to answer and decipher some of life’s most asked questions about human behavior.

Do you love working with children?


Spend a week learning about teaching children. You'll walk the path of a teacher, planning fun lessons and activities, and then implementing those activities with children.

  • Learn about the different content areas you could teach.
  • Observe different teachers in action.
  • Learn how to plan lessons and activities that are engaging for children.
  • Plan and implement lessons and activities with children.

Meet Your Camp Director

Rebecca Draper, PsyD, LMSW
Summer Academics, Director

“Making a decision about your future career and college choices can be very difficult! This is an amazing opportunity to get a head start on those decisions. Have a real University experience with University courses designed for you to experience your career field of choice during the day and take exciting field trips out on the town in the evening! As we look ahead to our 2025 Summer Camps, I hope you will consider Roberts Wesleyan University a place where you can learn, grow in faith and make some incredible connections. Our faculty, staff, and counselors have the highest level of education, motivation, energy and passion to guide you in your college experience. We want to share our passion and skills with our campers to ensure they have a meaningful, safe, and enjoyable time at camp. I can’t wait to welcome you and your family to Roberts Wesleyan University– see you this summer!”

Cost

One Week: $585/week | Two Weeks: $550/week*

Campers attending for two weeks who wish to stay the weekend may do so for an additional $300.

The cost for camp includes:
  • Academic Sessions with Roberts Faculty
  • Meals
  • Overnight Accommodations
  • Campus Experiences

Have questions? Please email Martha Smith.

*Campers attending for two weeks who wish to stay the weekend may do so for an additional $300.

As a Christian institution, these camps will seek to incorporate the values and commitments of the Christian faith.

The Camp will have a permit to operate in New York State from the Monroe County Department of Public Health.

Full Scholarships Available

Students meeting select criteria may be eligible to receive a full scholarship to attend one summer camp of their choice.

Students must have:

  • Financial need as evidenced by receiving free or reduced lunch
  • A cumulative high school GPA of 2.50 or higher

Scholarship applicants may apply to attend for one week of camp. Scholarship recipients will be notified by May 30.

Scholarship Application Coming Soon

Frequently Asked Questions

If Roberts Wesleyan University cancels the camps, a full refund will be issued.

If a participant cancels, refunds will be given if withdrawal from the program is made at least four weeks prior to the start date (by June 15, 2025). Requests for refunds will not be honored if withdrawal is made within four weeks of the start date unless a written request citing extenuating circumstances is submitted and approved. A $25 processing fee will be retained for withdrawal refunds.

As a Christian institution, these camps will seek to incorporate the values and commitments of the Christian faith.

Yes, the Camp will have a permit to operate in New York State from the Monroe County Department of Public Health.

Questions? Contact Martha Smith, Academic Activity Coordinator

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