Career Academy for Kids (CA4K)
What is Career Academy for Kids?:
CA4K is a three-day summer program of enrichment classes operated by Char-Em ISD. Classes are designed to help students experience a particular field of interest in-depth and hands-on.
Career Academy for Kids Dates: June 18-20, 2024
Career Academy For Kids Times: 9 am- 2:30 p.m. each day
Career Academy for Kids Grades: Students in grades K-8 (current school year 23-24). NEW K-2 Class this year!!!
Career Academy for Kids Locations:
Career Academy for Kids will be held in three locations in 2024, Harbor Springs High School, Boyne City Middle School and Pellston High School (Powersports).
Career Academy for Kids cost: The cost for Career Academy for Kids is $100, which includes registration, a light snack each day and a T-shirt! Change from previous years: Lunch will not be provided. Please pack a lunch each day for your student(s). Light snack will be provided during the day.
Is transportation available?
Char-Em ISD will provide specific transportation routes at no additional charge. Look for transportation registration details during the online course registration process. (Note: transportation is not provided to Pellston High School.) Transportation routes are detailed in the online registration process. 2024 Bus Routes here!
Need more information?
Please contact Tory Thrush, Char-Em ISD Career/College Readiness Consultant, (231) 308-0287.
2024 CA4K Camp Class offerings
Harbor Springs Courses: Harbor Springs High School
Be a Kid-Preneur
Current Grades: 3, 4, 5
Instructor: Hannah Sanderson
Description: Be the CEO of fun! Let your imagination run wild as you dream up an idea for a business. Take your brain off-road and choose a cutting edge product or service that you are passionate about or invent something brand new. Working with a business partner, you’ll launch your own invented business and sell your product or service to your fellow kidpreneurs. Game on!
Char-Em Beauty Salon
Current grades: 7, 8
Instructor: Kaela Vandermus
Description: Char-Em Beauty Salon offers hands-on experiences in hair styling, makeup application, skincare, and nail art. Participants learn techniques from professionals, explore industry trends, and develop their creativity. It’s a fun and educational environment where aspiring beauty enthusiasts can enhance their skills and passion for cosmetology.
Char-Em Street STEM Link to video!
Current grades: 2, 3, 4
Instructor: Jessica Mills
Description: A STEM challenge each day will have students exploring science, technology, engineering and math in this fun new offering! Who can build the tallest tower, the strongest bridge, or the balloon car that travels the farthest? Solar cooking is on the menu, as is exploring the many ways that STEM impacts our lives in fun and exciting ways! Char-Em ISD’s new Street STEM traveling trailer will be on-site providing the creation tools – like 3D pens and virtual reality goggles! – for three days of exploration.
Fun with Nature Link to Video!
Current Grades: 2, 3, 4, 5
Instructor: Kris Dey
Description: If you enjoy being outdoors, exploring nature, and being an active observer, you’ll love our daily hikes or outdoor activities to explore animals, birds, plants, landscapes, insects, fish, and more in nature. Dress for the weather and outdoor adventures.
Photography: Tourist in your own Town Link to Video!
Current grades: 4, 5, 6
Instructor: Beth Anne Piehl
Description: Do you love Northern Michigan and want to share its beauty with the world? We do, too! In this course, you will learn basic photography skills first, then we will visit some of Harbor Springs’ most treasured spots to capture creative photographs. Next, we’ll turn your images into promotional pieces to share through social media and in print brochures by learning graphic design basics. Cameras will be provided, or bring your own! Students are also welcome to bring their own phones for capturing photos. Questions about equipment provided can be directed to the instructor at (231) 330-5701 or via email at piehlb@charemisd.org.
Young Author Adventures
Current Grades: 3, 4, 5
Instructor: Rachel Jackson
Description: Do you dream of publishing your own book someday? Build upon your skills and take a genre hike through Harbor Springs! Published authors often find inspiration from their own experiences and the world around them. Come stroll the streets through the market, locate the library and step back in time at the historical museum as you follow a scavenger hunt that will unlock ideas and inspiration toward your dream of becoming an author! Immerse yourself in three days of language arts adventures as we read, write, illustrate and create together. All young authors will experience writing within six different genres & come away with a journal full of ideas, stories and inspiration for their future writing endeavors! *Please wear walking shoes and dress for the weather.
Pellston Public Schools: Powersports Building
PowerSports Technology
Current Grades: 6, 7, 8
Instructor: Tommy Lorencz
Description: PowerSports Technology offers students the opportunity to learn to identify engine and chassis components while using repair manuals to repair different types of small engines and outdoor equipment. In the class you will disassemble, measure, and reassemble small engines and equipment in order to gain experience and skills that will be useful moving forward.
Boyne City Courses: Boyne City Middle School
NEW K-2 Class this year!
Street STEM 2.0
Current grades: K, 1, 2
Instructor: Noah Honaker
Description: A STEM challenge each day will have students exploring science, technology, engineering and math in this fun new offering! Who can build the tallest tower, the strongest bridge, or the balloon car that travels the farthest? Solar cooking is on the menu, as is exploring the many ways that STEM impacts our lives in fun and exciting ways! Char-Em ISD’s new Street STEM traveling trailer will be on-site providing the creation tools – like 3D pens and virtual reality goggles! – for three days of exploration.
All Things Agriculture
Current Grades: 6, 7, 8
Instructor: Kelly Miller
Description: Immerse yourself in the world of agriculture in this hands-on 3 day camp. Explore the vibrant atmosphere of the Boyne City farmers market, tasting the fresh produce and meeting the locals who grow and make the food. Don’t forget to pack your farm boots as you will get the opportunity to tour local farms, jump on a hay ride and learn about all things ag!
CA4K Chopped *Boyne City Culinary Classroom
Current Grades: 6, 7, 8
Instructor: Chef Cole Thornton
Description: Kids will have an exploration in cooking with fun and tasty recipes while gaining valuable experience that can be used in their home kitchens. Chef-led cooking activities and instructions are designed to help students familiarize themselves with a home kitchen.
Char-Em Med
Current Grades: 6, 7, 8
Instructor: Riley Peterson
Description: Put on scrubs and enter the world of medicine. Learn about many fields in healthcare and what it takes to be a nurse, paramedic, or a surgeon. Discover how to take a pulse and blood pressure, start an I.V. and experience a state-of-the-art simulation lab. Students will get the opportunity to see North Central Michigan College’s anatomage (anatomy) table, tour a health care program, and visit the local humane society.
E-Sports
Current Grades: 6, 7, 8
Instructor: Dakota Kintigh
Description: Join us for an exciting camp experience that combines e-sports with wellness to enhance gaming skills, physical activity, teamwork, and overall well-being. Discover various e-sports careers, learn about the importance of technology use in gaming, participate in yoga, outdoor games, and nature walks to promote physical health and focus, hone gaming skills, develop teamwork and problem-solving skills through off-screen and on-screen activities, and end the camp with a friendly tournament celebrating campers’ growth and achievements.
Painting and Drawing: Flowers (Plants), Insects and Birds, OH MY!
Current grades: 6, 7, 8
Instructor: Martina Hahn
Description: “Is a dandelion just a weed? Is it safe for us to touch or to eat, or is it only for the bees to rest on? Why do bees collect nectar and what do they do with it? What’s that beetle, why does it have the colors it has and does it want to sting me? Where does it live and what does it do? Which bird will try to eat it?” Students will discover and learn how to identify, draw, and paint plants, flowers, insects and birds that live around us here in Northern Michigan. They will also apply the appropriate colors and shapes, as well as record important properties in a fun way. Each student will receive a blank notebook in which he/she will record common plants, insects and/or birds that we find all around us while venturing outside (weather permitting).
