SEE VT in the news! Click here to read a recent VT News story about our third summer of SEE VT! Includes video footage of our campers’ adventures on and around campus! About SEE VT Testimonials About SEE VT SEE VT, the Summer Enrichment Experience at Virginia Tech, hosted its inaugural session from June 26–July 1, 2022 and its second session from June 25–30, 2023. SEE VT is an exciting opportunity for middle school students living in rural communities. During this one-week residential summer camp on Virginia Tech’s campus, students had the opportunity to learn, examine, and reflect on what it means to live (and thrive) in rural communities! The SEE VT program employs a place framework designed to meet the social-emotional needs of learners by addressing topics such as stereotype threat and rural poverty while introducing STEM and arts opportunities that emphasize a connection to home and community. In morning sessions, students used the FEW Nexus to explore the connections between Food, Energy, and Water and how engineering can help generate solutions to challenges rural communities may experience in making these resources available to all community members. In afternoon sessions, students wrote, produced, and acted in place-based creative performances which focused on their personal reflections of place. Counselors led participating students in fun and engaging evening activities as well! TEACHERS: You can click here to access some of the FEW Nexus lessons we used during SEE VT 2022: https://rural.vt.edu/teacher-collaboratory/ Please enjoy this wonderful video about SEE VT produced by Mark Blane of Virginia Tech! His VT news story about SEE VT can also be found here. SEE VT Testimonials From Students “SEE VT was an awesome experience! I met great people, learned a lot, had fun with kids my age, and ate amazing food in D2.The donuts and the Asian food were the best. It was also really cool learning a little bit of what it is like being in college.” -Audrey (Camper) “It is a great camp. I highly recommend it for anyone. The counselors are the best and are quite fun! The food is also extraordinarily good.” -Sophia R. (Camper) “My experience at SeeVT was remarkable. It was a great opportunity to meet new people and learn new things.” -Leon W. (Camper) From Parents “My child suffers from panic / anxiety attacks. So as a battle of the mind we decided to try an overnight away from home camp that she could learn and have fun and make new friends. I stayed in town the first night just in case. Got a phone call and halfway through she said she had to go because she was missing something in the hall. By the end of the week she didn’t call. Said she didn’t have time and while she was semi-excited to see me on Friday, she cried all the way home because she had conquered many fears, learned so much about life and education, and made amazing new friends.” (Parent) “We were nervous about leaving our daughter at first, but within minutes of being on campus and meeting the counselors, we knew this would be a great experience for our daughter. She thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of her experience and made several friends with whom she still maintains contact. This camp will give your child the opportunity to experience the rich diversity a college campus can offer. We highly recommend it.” (Parent) “Our son was so excited to be in the SEE VT program. He had a fabulous time learning and taking all the trips around the VT campus. He enjoyed all the games and activities. He particularly liked his camp counselor JY who was both inspiring and caring. This experience was phenomenal and the level of communication between the camp and the parents was superb. I hope that our other sons will qualify for this camp in the future.” (Parent) “My rising 7th grader had so much fun at SEE VT. She experienced working in groups to complete projects, learning about nature and effects of climate change. Every day for her was an adventure. She was supervised by staff making me feel safe every minute of her time there. The staff was kind and helpful every step of the way. Along with her educational experiences she was introduced to University life. She enjoyed choosing her meals every day. We highly recommend this experience. – J. Collins (Parent) “We were so thrilled for our daughter to have had this experience. She got to think outside the box, meet new friends, and work in groups while learning new material and having fun! Everyone was very friendly and we felt very confident that our daughter would be well taken care of while staying on a college campus.” K. Mosby (Parent) “Seeing my son unplug and immerse himself in a new environment made me so proud of him. He was so grateful for the opportunity and I could see how transformational the experience was for him. He learned great things, made new connections and had fun. Hope other kids can get to experience something like this given the opportunity.” -R. Woodson (Parent) From Counselors “Simply put, this camp is an absolute joy to be a part of. Every camper was bright and sweet! As a counselor, you are heavily supported and your counselor group will connect together like a family! Would highly recommend this opportunity to anyone interested as it truly was the highlight of my summer by far!” -JY (Counselor) “SEE VT was an amazing experience to bring rural students out of their home environment and link them up with students who share many of the same similarities. For one camper, he was finally able to play chess with people his age (something he was not afforded in his hometown since no one knew how to play chess in his community). It was also so valuable to me as a developing professional to gain experience working with talented students from the middle-school age group. SEE VT brought a great group of people together in which everyone had fun and discovered more about themselves and about plenty of others just like them.” (Counselor) Working with SEE VT this past year was the highlight of my summer. It was more impactful to me than I could have ever expected, as the entire team was a dream to work with. From the directors, to the other counselors, and the campers, everyone was incredibly kind and enjoyable to be around. Having the opportunity to be with the campers as they got to experience so many firsts, (first time at college, eating in a dorm, going on field trips, etc.) was so exciting. This camp is a once and a lifetime opportunity for students to get to engage in amazing and stimulating educational experiences in an environment that is supportive and empowering. Even as a counselor, this was the best summer camp experience I have ever had!” -Katie R. (Counselor)
