Course Options
College Gate®
Programs are for students currently in grades k-3
"Art" Rageous
Unleash your inner artist as you dive into a whirlwind of creativity and transform your ideas into stunning works of art! Spark your imagination through multi-dimensional projects that pop off the page using a range of media such as; vibrant paints, oil pastels, brushes, colorful paper, pencils, and so much more. Journey through time by studying famous historical artists like Picasso, Van Gogh, and Frida Kahlo. Recreate their iconic works using learned techniques and adding your own personal twist.
Biology Bonanza
Get ready to dive into the wild and wonderful world of biology! In this exciting hands-on course, students will become junior biologists as they explore the building blocks of life and living on land—from tiny cells to towering trees and amazing animals. Through a series of lab experiments, games, nature exploration on the college campus, cool crafts and more kids will learn about topics such as: cells, plants, animals, marine life, food chains, ecosystems, microorganisms, habitats and more. Our budding biologists will learn about the living world around them and why it is so amazing.
Build, Build, Build
Engineer a variety of super structures using frail and sturdy materials. Explore the architecture of buildings, towers, pyramids and domes as you learn the principles of strength to construct a variety of super structures. Experiment with a variety of interactive projects such as straw structures, slingshot rockets, parachutes, boats, race cars, catapults and more. Put on your thinking caps and come help us solve problems, by asking questions, designing and creating prototypes, and testing and analyzing the results. Can you design a structure for an egg that will endure the drop from an extended height?
CG Detective
Learn how to become a crime scene investigator (CSI) and super sleuth as you secure the scene and preserve and analyze evidence in a series of “mock” campus mysteries. Fine-tune your observational and technical skills as an evidence technician while learning about fingerprinting, fiber identification, footprint impressions, and more. You will learn to solve “whodunnit” as you interview suspects and interrogate witnesses for many simulated mysteries.
Chess (Beginner Level)
This introductory course will allow you to learn how logic, strategy and creative problem-solving skills are applied from the opening move to checkmate. Engage in tournaments, online challenges and epic chess games using our life size chess board.
Chess (Experienced Level)
Continue to develop your knowledge – record your game using notation, solve intermediate problems, and evaluate your position mid-game through advanced tactics. Analyze and polish your chess skills while engaging in tournaments and epic games on our life size chess board. Students should know piece moves and have played the game to enroll in the experienced level.
Chemistry
In the college lab, grab your safety goggles as you become a chemist when you conduct a series of science experiments with solutions, powders and other simple materials. Get ready to fizz, pop, test and react! (Students must be in grade 3 today to select this option).
Creative Confections
Unleash your sweet side in this fun and flavorful course designed for aspiring young bakers and candy-makers! Students will learn the art behind making delicious treats—from cupcakes and cookies to candies, cake pops, and more. Through hands-on instruction, kids will explore techniques in decorating, flavor pairing, and presentation, all while building skills and confidence. A frosting fiesta awaits as you learn how to make flowers, stars, fancy edges, and creative confections.
Crazy Computer
Step into the world of technology and creativity! In this hands-on computer class, students will explore the basics of coding, digital design, and computer programs using kid-friendly, block-based tools like Scratch and TinkerCad. They will learn how to create their own games, animations, interactive stories, and 3D models, bringing their ideas to life on the screen. Along the way, students will discover how to code characters that jump, move and dance while developing essential problem-solving skills, creativity, and confidence. This course empowers young creators to take charge of their digital world—because if they can dream it, they can design it!
Curtain Call
Spark your child’s imagination and confidence as they dive into the exciting world of acting and theater. Explore emotions, create unforgettable characters, and shine in skits and plays. Through playful improvisation, voice projection, and stage poise, your young star will build skills and self-esteem while making new friends. Get ready for a summer of laughter, creativity, and show-stopping moments—Broadway, watch out, our kids are stealing the spotlight!
Earth Explorers
Become a rock ranger, terra trekker, and geo giant as you explore the many elements of the earth such as geology, meteorology, oceanography, astronomy and more. Conduct many earth and environmental science experiments as you make it rain, filter water, make instant quick sand, go goldfishing, become a miner and more. Wind, water, weather and the wonders of the earth await our explorers.
Lights Camera Action
Using the outdoors and the college campus as your backdrop, create a series of short movie clips, skits, music videos, and more. Discover how much fun your group can have in front of the camera as you become a movie maker. Watch out, Hollywood, here we come.
Marine Biology
Immerse yourself in this interactive lab experience as you investigate, handle, and dissect various marine specimens such as; starfish, crayfish, squid, perch, and dogfish. Explore the ocean’s mysterious layers, uncover the impacts of pollution, and discover why coral reefs are vital to marine ecosystems. Through hands-on experiments and engaging discussions, you will unlock the secrets of marine life and become an ocean protector. Join us for a splash-tastic summer adventure that will spark your curiosity and love for the sea!
Minecraft
Dive into the world of coding and game design with Minecraft Creator. Whether you are a beginner or have experience, use this intuitive interface to code in a 3D World. Plan, build, solve, discover, and design to create your own dream palace and rule your Minecraft Kingdom.
Photography Fun
Students will learn the fundamentals of photography using a digital camera and a computer. Learn how to create graphics in Photoshop as you discover how to retouch, color correct photos, combine images and create graphics. Learn how to modify and enhance the still life photos that you capture around the college campus. Taking award winning photos is all just a click away.
"Pond"tastic
Voyage daily to the pond and gather water samples, perform experiments, and capture pond life. Learn about insects, dragonflies, lily pads, frogs, and more. Grab your nets and rods to capture toads, tadpoles, fish, and other pond life.
Power it Up
Wind, water, battery and solar power are the waves of the future. Create a variety of projects including pinwheel wind turbines, sail boats, water wheels, solar ovens, balloon rocket cars and wind powered vehicles. Through experiments, crafts and stories learn how to “power up” our world today with many sources of energy.
Physics is Fun
Prepare a variety of interactive projects such as roller coasters, race cars, catapults and electricity to test the elements of Physics. Put on your thinking caps and come help us solve problems, by asking questions, designing and creating prototypes, and testing and analyzing the results. By using the design process, we will explore the fundamental forces of energy, motion, gravity, friction, force and more.
Radio Broadcasting
Enter the college radio station, turn on the microphone and go live! Discover how to develop a radio show to cover sports, comedy, current events, entertainment, music and more. You will create podcasts, have audience interactions with your listeners, conduct interviews and be a music DJ. Learn about playlists, commercials and programming all while LIVE on air at WSHL 93.1. (Students must be in grade 3 today to select this option).
Robotics
Get ready to build, program, and play! In this exciting hands-on course, young engineers will use LEGO® EV3 kits to design and build different robotic vehicles. Working together in small teams, students will learn how to use coding to bring their creations to life and complete a series of challenges such as; obstacle courses, races, and battle bots. Along the way, explore teamwork, problem-solving, and the basics of robotics and engineering in a supportive, collaborative, and creative environment. Bring your imagination and watch robotic vehicles come to life!
Robotics Advanced
Using the EV3 platform, you will learn how to construct more complex vehicles and use advanced programming to engineer your way through a series of progressive challenges. Advanced planning, clear strategy, and your programming skills will be put to the test. Students are expected to work in a cooperative group environment.
Rocketry
Explore aerodynamics, physics, and the forces of flight as you construct and launch your own model rockets. Learn about nosecones, body tubes, fin placement, engines, ignition systems, and launch safety. Finish your build with a customized paint design and decals. Get ready for the countdown to blast your rocket into the sky, and watch as a successfully engineered recovery system provides a safe return. Look out, NASA, here we come!
Rocketry Advanced (Prior Year Experience Required)
Expand your knowledge of propulsion, flight dynamics and recovery systems using more complex building techniques. Finish your rocket with a customized paint design and prepare to launch using more advanced engine systems. If you have taken Rocketry at our program during a past summer, the advanced level awaits you.
Science Discovery
In the college science lab, become a chemist, biologist, physicist, and super scientist as you experiment with solutions, powders, polymers, and more. Make tie-dye milk, magic flowers, DNA models, water filtration systems, an indoor snowstorm, and more. Get ready to fizz, pop, slime, test, and react!
Sculpture with Clay
Using air-dried clay, learn how to become a sculptor. Make and paint many three-dimensional art forms.Students will create freestanding, handmade pieces using sculptural techniques, including coil building, form molding, and carving.
Woodworkers
Get ready to build, create, and bring your imagination to life! Strap on your tool belt and jump into the world of measuring, sanding, hammering, and finishing real wood projects. Craft everything from a magical gumball machine to a patriotic flag, a sturdy step stool, and a cozy birdhouse for feathered friends. Whether you are a future builder or just love working with your hands, this class is your workshop playground!
College Academy®
For students who are currently in Grades 4 to 8.
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Actors' Workshop
Step into the spotlight! This dynamic acting course is designed for young performers ready to explore the world of theatre through creativity, teamwork, and self-expression. Students will build confidence as they learn essential acting skills, including character development, improvisation, voice and movement, and scene work. Emphasis will be placed on developing stage presence, active listening, and collaborative storytelling. The course will culminate in a showcase of selected scenes or monologues, allowing students to apply their learning in a performance setting and shine on stage!
Animation
Using animate, craft your own unique stories and awesome characters with frame-by-frame animation, slick symbol-based designs, and smooth motion tweens. Experiment with layers, create jaw-dropping graphics, morph shapes with shape tweens, build scenes, add interactive buttons, and amp it up with cool sound effects. Unleash your creativity!
Awesome Artificial Intelligence (Ai)
Discover the fascinating world of Artificial Intelligence. Learn about existing AI models such as ChatGPT and DALL-E. Train your own AI through pictures, motions & sounds. If you can do it... AI can too!
CA Shark Tank
Become a young entrepreneur as you start with an idea for a business/product and learn the process to develop a prototype, business plan, budget, and marketing strategy. Using the One Button studio, design and record a commercial for the digital marketplace! Take care of business as you prepare a final “pitch” to persuade the CA Sharks.
Campus Courtroom
Learn about the judicial system as you explore civil and criminal law and prepare for a series of “mock” trials. Research cases, learn the rules of debate, and gain confidence as a public speaker. Become a prosecutor, defense attorney, judge, or member of the jury as you head to the College Academy Courtroom.
Chemistry
Grab your goggles and get ready to unleash your inner scientist! In this action-packed lab course, you won’t just learn chemistry—you will experience it. Step into a real college chemistry lab where bubbling reactions, color-changing solutions, and fiery demos bring science to life. Investigate the mysteries of acids and bases, uncover the secrets behind surprising chemical changes, and explore what really happens when substances collide. From sugar snakes and flying tea bags to flame tests and pH indicators, every hands-on experiment is designed to ignite your curiosity and fuel your passion for discovery.
Chess (Beginners Level)
This introductory course will allow you to learn how logic, strategy and creative problem-solving skills are applied from the opening move to checkmate. Engage in tournaments, online challenges and epic chess games using our life size chess board.
Chess (Experienced Level)
Continue to develop your knowledge – record your game using notation, solve intermediate problems, and evaluate your position mid-game through advanced tactics. Analyze and polish your chess skills while engaging in tournaments and epic games on our life size chess board. Explore a series of games such as Chess 960, Fast Chess, Bughouse, Double Chess, Online Chess, Crazyhouse and more. Students should know piece moves and have played the game to enroll in the experienced level.
Comic Creator
Learn how to draw cartoon characters, superheroes, villains and sidekicks. Be creative and use your imagination to create comic book art. Master the techniques of visual storytelling as you craft compelling narratives through your drawings. Immerse yourself in exciting adventures as you design new logos and bring your cartoon characters to life.
Creative Confections
Unleash your sweet side in this fun and flavorful course designed for aspiring young bakers and candy-makers! Students will learn the art behind making delicious treats—from cupcakes and cookies to candies, cake pops, and more. Through hands-on instruction, kids will explore techniques in decorating, flavor pairing, and presentation, all while building skills and confidence. A frosting fiesta awaits as you learn how to make flowers, stars, fancy edges, and creative confections.
Fantasy Adventures Beginner and Advanced
Explore the world of magic users, dwarfs, and dragons. Create your character to participate in a number of game campaigns and fine-tune your role-playing skills. Discover several adventures as you manage through a maze of excitement. Collaborate with others or seek to conquer the quest on your own! Beginner and Experienced levels will be offered.
Finding Forensics
Become a CSI (Crime Scene Investigator) as you: secure the scene, collect, preserve and analyze evidence in a series of mock campus “crimes.” Fine-tune your observational and technical skills as an evidence technician while learning about fingerprinting, fiber identification, “blood” spatter, footprint impressions, and more.
Fun with Felting
Discover the magic of turning soft, fluffy fibers into amazing 3D felted sculptures! Using just wool, needles, and your imagination, you will learn how to create everything from realistic animals and whimsical creatures to unique shapes and playful designs. Whether you are new to felting or ready to level up your skills, this hands-on class will guide you through the techniques of this ancient craft—layer by layer. Get ready to poke, sculpt, and transform fiber into fantastic, one-of-a-kind masterpieces!
Gone Fishin'
Get ready to cast off into the exciting world of fishing at the college pond. Grab your fishing poles, nets, and other equipment to capture and track fish, turtles, frogs, insects, and other marine life. Combine outdoor adventure with valuable life skills like patience, observation, safety, and respect for nature! Whether this is your first time fishing or you are looking to improve your skills, this course will have you hooked!
Game Design
Become a video game creator as you develop the skills to design an engaging player experience. Using visual coding, students will explore the principals of game design and learn how to incorporate art sprites, levels, scrolling backgrounds, adventure maps, sound, music and gameplay to ensure playability.
Graphic Design
Using a variety of “creative tools” build a brand, develop logos, scale your work and manage your designs with the freedom to create anything you can imagine. Designers of all levels will discover how to sketch and draw their own illustrations while working with a range of color and text. Develop the skills of a graphic artist to customize your portfolio with the precision of a professional!
It’s Sketchy
GLearn how to discover your artistic talents as you create, draw, sketch and design many works of art. Using various mixed media design creations such as mystical mandalas, mind-bending tessellations, optical illusions, sports team logos, superheroes, comic book characters, street signs, 3-D drawings, zentangle patterns, animals and more. Learn how to draw the world in front of you and compile a portfolio of fascinating, original artwork!
Magic Card Game (Beginner & Experienced Levels)
Learn to defeat your opponent with a variety of tactics in the realm of fantasy while applying critical thinking, logic and strategy. Cast spells, use artifacts, and summon creatures to defeat your opponent. Become familiar with deck building, card values and fair trades. Leverage your lands and sorceries as you compete against your opponent in this trading card game.
Marine Biology
Embark on an exhilarating underwater odyssey through a series of hands-on, interactive labs where you will get up close with marine life—investigate and dissect specimen such as starfish, crayfish, squid, perch, and dogfish. Dive deeper into the ocean's secrets: chart the mysterious layers from sunlit shallows to abyssal trenches, uncover pollution on fragile ecosystems, and champion the vibrant world of coral reefs as biodiversity hotspots.
Minecraft Creator
Dive into the world of coding and game design. Whether you are a beginner or have experience, use this intuitive interface to code in a 3D world. Plan, build, problem solves, discover and design to create your own dream palace and rule your Minecraft kingdom.
Movie Makers
Step into the director’s chair and bring your ideas to life! In this filmmaking course, you will learn the basics of video production—from scripting and storyboarding to filming and editing. Using the college campus as your outdoor studio, you will work in teams to produce short films, skits, and music videos. Explore camera angles, lighting techniques, sound design, and simple editing tools to create polished video projects. Whether you are acting, directing, or working behind the scenes, you will gain real-world skills while having a blast on camera.
Music Production
Learn how to develop, refine and record your own music. Using MIDI beats/instruments, Garage Band and other remixing software, collaborate with other students to create a portfolio of original songs. Whether you are a music enthusiast or looking for a new experience, discover the elements of production as you bring your musical ideas to life; compose, arrange, edit, mix and master your tracks.
Physics Factory
Experiment and build a variety of structures as you use your imagination, judgement, and reasoning to investigate: energy, strength, force, motion, gravity, momentum and more. Learn about kinetic energy as you design a “stick bomb” obstacle course and compete with your fellow engineers to win the race! Discover the science and engineering behind amusement park rides as you design a Ferris wheel and classroom rollercoaster. Become a solution builder to tackle a series of real world challenges as you build towers, bridges and other structures. Get ready to test, build, engineer and experiment with the elements of physics
Photoshop
Develop your skills to work effectively and creatively with this image creation, graphic design and photo editing software. From touching up family photos, to creating professional grade digital images learn how to use Photoshop to add lighting and color effects, or achieve more complicated results by creating multiple layers, digital filters, and splicing separate images together. Explore a comprehensive range of tools to modify, refine and remix a variety of images as you create an amazing portfolio of digital designs.
Radio Broadcasting
Enter the college radio station, turn on the microphone and go live! Discover how to develop a radio show to cover sports, comedy, current events, entertainment, music and more. You will create podcasts, have audience interactions with your listeners, conduct interviews and be a music DJ. Learn about playlists, commercials and programming all while LIVE on air at WSHL 93.1.
Robotics Beginner and Advanced
Using the EV3 platform, you will learn how to construct a series of complex vehicles and use advanced programming to engineer your way through a series of progressive challenges. Advanced planning, clear strategy, and your programming skills will be put to the test. Students are expected to work in a cooperative group environment.
Rocketry Beginner and Advanced
Rocketry Beginner – Explore aerodynamics, physics, and the forces of flight as you construct and launch your own model rockets. Learn about nosecones, body tubes, fin placement, engines, ignition systems, and launch safety. Finish your build with a customized paint design and decals. Get ready for the countdown to blast your rocket into the sky, and watch as a successfully engineered recovery system provides a safe return. Look out, NASA, here we come!
Sculpture
Use your imagination and develop your art techniques while creating your own works in 3-D using air-dried clay. Students will create freestanding, handmade pieces using sculptural techniques, including coil building, form molding, and carving.
Sports-casting
Step into the fast-paced world of sports broadcasting in a cutting-edge college studio designed for creators like you! Whether you are breaking down the latest game-winning play, debating team rivalries, or interviewing athletes, this course puts you behind the mic and in control. You will sharpen your public speaking, communication, and storytelling skills while developing your own unique sports podcast from the ground up. A playbook packed with content possibilities awaits our budding sports analysts as they record, edit, promote and platform! Get ready to inform, entertain, and ignite the passion of sports fans everywhere. Your voice, your vision—your sportscast.
Thrifty Threads
Learn the basic techniques of crocheting and counted cross stitching as you embark on an artistic journey and discover the joy of thrifty threads. Slipknots, chains, basic stitches, finishing off and more will be used to create your own adorable crafting companion as you make a crocheted stuffed little friend. Embroidery hoops, cloth, floss, needles and more - count your stitches and create a work of art that you can display anywhere. Learn how to read patterns and watch it come to life on your pieces of fabric.
TV Production
Get ready to become part of the College Academy TV crew! Explore the world of television production from start to finish. Learn how to write scripts, direct scenes, work behind the camera and star in your own show. Rotate through various production roles—director, camera operator, editor, reporter, and more—while working with camera and audio video equipment. Bring your creative storytelling and love for media to produce a memorable show.
College Gate® Gallery
College Academy® Gallery
