Camp TAMIAS

Nestled away in a corner of cosy Charleton Massachusetts is Camp TAMIAS, a Russian speaking camp run by teachers from all corners of the United States, Tennessee and New York, to name but two. They had borrowed some equipment from their labs all over the US and ventured up to Massachusetts to share their passion with kids. The classes were very hands-on and allowed kids to get to grips with some serious equipment that they otherwise wouldn’t have seen before, in a very relaxed environment.

What most impressed us at Olga’s List was the DNA barcoding (amplifying a specific

bit of a species DNA sequence to identify said species, in a fashion similar to how

barcodes work in shops, hence the name – we felt it would be a useful for a brief

description, because we at Olga’s list were ourselves not familiar with DNA

barcoding before visiting the camps). Of course, it is not all microscopes and marine

biology, fun though that may be, dotted around the camp were some great amenities,

a swimming pool, a football pitch, a vegetable garden, and a very popular ping pong

table. There was a constant patter of coming and going, and of conversations and

laughter in the hallway; you could feel that the teachers’ easy-going nature and

passion had rubbed off on the camp and its students.

On their visit, the Olga’s list team got a brief introductory lesson in marine biology

from Lev, who took us through a series of algae samples, showing us the various

living organisms in them and how exposing them to different frequency lights can

reveal all sorts of interesting things, things that we look forward to learning in more

detail at upcoming events from our clients who were able to take some of these

classes and who can now count microbiology as among their areas of expertise.

The main focus of the camp, however, is coding – a key skill in our increasingly

digitalised world. Classes are run in Java, JavaScript, Python, Scratch, and Video

game development, for all levels of ability. The camp says that in the space of only a

few weeks of intensive immersion, kids can develop lasting skills that can stand to

them should they go on to study in any STEM field, as even in subjects like

engineering, an ability to understand and create basic code is highly valued. Indeed,

as their expertise grows, students can also start helping out with tutoring coding

classes, something that can be very beneficial towards potential future college

applications. For our clients, this is hopefully the start of an amazing partnership that

will see them continue to develop lasting skills and interest in the STEM fields, the

foundational building blocks of computer programming, and most importantly, lasting

friendships and an amazing community to which they can hopefully return next

summer. To help us continue enabling projects like this and more, please do

whatever you can do help Olga’s List’s mission. Donations can be made here via our

website and we are always looking for new volunteers; if you are interested, reach

out to us here ….@olgaslist.org