City of Lakeland offers summer camps with focus on STEM, esports
Esports summer camp in Lakeland
FOX 13’s Mariah Harrison introduces us to a summer camp in Lakeland for students who love robotics, math and gaming.
LAKELAND, Fla. - For parents of technology-driven kids, the STEM and Esports Camps in Lakeland are the ultimate summer programs with counselors fostering curiosity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
With esports joining the Olympic Games in 2027, there’s no doubting its popularity and the seriousness of professional gamers.
If you’re unfamiliar with the growing sport, these aren’t just kids putting quarters in arcade machines.
What they're saying:
"There's a lot more to it than that," explained Lakeland Director of Recreation Michael Marotz.
Lakeland’s STEM and Esports Camps foster fun, learning, and socialization using various computer games.
"We are a camp divided into two months," said Marotz, "June is all STEM. One week is science, next week is technology."
The City of Lakeland offers STEM and Esports summer camps.
The STEM week games do a seamless job of blending in gaming and learning, says David Collinsworth.
"We have games like Brainy, which teaches kids the basics of math… each one of these kids are learning something through these games and they’re having fun, but they don’t actually know that they’re actually learning valuable life lessons and I love that," Collinsworth said.
Once July comes around, the camp switches over to esports.
The City of Lakeland offers STEM and Esports summer camps.
"Every week we have a different level or a different game that we're playing, whether it be Marvel or Fortnite or Overwatch," Marotz explained.
All the action happens at the Coleman-Bush Building, their Mid-Florida Credit Union Esports Center. The room is lined with gaming desktops, with chat boxes turned off to create a safe environment for campers to game and get social.
"We don't just let them sit here and play video games for two hours and not monitor them or talk to them," said Marotz, "You play for a little bit, take a break, play for a little bit, take a break, lunch. We want it structured because it's a summer camp, and we understand that parents are looking for some structure.
Their goal is for campers to gain a better understanding of technology and how it fits in the classroom, but they’re also hopeful that students can continue with esports at the collegiate level.
"Having that ability to put one of our kids on the wall and say, you know, so-and-so just got a full ride scholarship to play esports, to play video games at Southeastern or Poly, or Florida Southern, that's our goal."
What you can do:
Registration for the Esports Camp in Lakeland opens March 31. For more information, click here.
The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13's Mariah Harrison.
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