Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth
Aaron
Minnesota, especially the Twin Cities, has an abundance of fabulous summer programs, of which I have taken advantage of over the years. But this summer, one stood out as a particularly fantastic one: MITY. Contrary to popular belief, MITY is not an embarrassing misspelling of "mighty." Instead, it's an acronym! MITY — or the Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth — is a program that draws kids from all over Minnesota, and even the nation! It has a range of different classes, which are arranged into age groups. Kids in grades 1 through 3 go to one called YES, or Your Extraordinary Saturday. Grades 4 through 6 go to ExplorSchool (no acronyms here), and grades 7 through 12 go to one called EYM, or Expand Your Mind.
This year I did Expand Your Mind, and specifically the course on improvisational theater. Mind you, this is not the only class. There's a course to fit all interests: psychology, videography, calculus, forensics, jazz, painting and opera are some of the many classes offered. Classes are from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. five days a week for two weeks in June or July. The camp has two sessions, A and B, and each offer different classes. My improv class was in session B, and was taught by two friendly and experienced improv-ers — both of them teachers in the metro area. The class was great; we were occupied all day with fun improv games, studies on humor and even an exciting field trip to the Children's Theater Company in Minneapolis! During the day kids are let out for an hour and a half to eat lunch and socialize with kids from other classes. The whole program is held on the Macalester college campus, so campers are free to eat at the cafeteria, pack a bag lunch or go to a local restaurant.
During this time, one of the EYM coordinators (who goes by the name of Mr. Rec) organized crazy events, such as a campus-wide scavenger hunt, beading classes, bocce ball, or the famed Wacky Track Meet, featuring events such as the crab walk, bubble gum blowout, and the watermelon seed spitting contest. During the day, Mr. Rec will visit classes to fill them in on the day's events, hand out the daily MITY news bulletin, or supervise the infamous Starburst Challenge, where a participant must rely only on taste to identify the flavor of a Starburst chewy candy.
A main feature of the camp is its resident program, where kids from out of town can stay in the Macalester dorms. Although I've never done this, I've heard that it's quite a lot of fun. The kids get all their meals at the Macalester cafeteria, and nightly outings to Twins games and Valleyfair are commonplace.
Although a little expensive, MITY, and especially EYM, is a wonderful program and I recommend it to any and all teenagers with a lack of summertime scheduling.
This year I did Expand Your Mind, and specifically the course on improvisational theater. Mind you, this is not the only class. There's a course to fit all interests: psychology, videography, calculus, forensics, jazz, painting and opera are some of the many classes offered. Classes are from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. five days a week for two weeks in June or July. The camp has two sessions, A and B, and each offer different classes. My improv class was in session B, and was taught by two friendly and experienced improv-ers — both of them teachers in the metro area. The class was great; we were occupied all day with fun improv games, studies on humor and even an exciting field trip to the Children's Theater Company in Minneapolis! During the day kids are let out for an hour and a half to eat lunch and socialize with kids from other classes. The whole program is held on the Macalester college campus, so campers are free to eat at the cafeteria, pack a bag lunch or go to a local restaurant.
During this time, one of the EYM coordinators (who goes by the name of Mr. Rec) organized crazy events, such as a campus-wide scavenger hunt, beading classes, bocce ball, or the famed Wacky Track Meet, featuring events such as the crab walk, bubble gum blowout, and the watermelon seed spitting contest. During the day, Mr. Rec will visit classes to fill them in on the day's events, hand out the daily MITY news bulletin, or supervise the infamous Starburst Challenge, where a participant must rely only on taste to identify the flavor of a Starburst chewy candy.
A main feature of the camp is its resident program, where kids from out of town can stay in the Macalester dorms. Although I've never done this, I've heard that it's quite a lot of fun. The kids get all their meals at the Macalester cafeteria, and nightly outings to Twins games and Valleyfair are commonplace.
Although a little expensive, MITY, and especially EYM, is a wonderful program and I recommend it to any and all teenagers with a lack of summertime scheduling.