WCU’s iCamp
Expands in Seventh Season of Free Summer Media Program

This summer, 35 high school students stayed on campus for iCamp, WCU’s summer media program for rising juniors and seniors in high school. Campers immersed themselves in digital media projects including podcasts, websites, games, and filmmaking. They enjoyed the camaraderie of working together to shed light on a social issue of their choosing, one that resonates with high school students like themselves.

Now in its seventh year, iCamp is a free summer media program for underserved students from Philadelphia and, as of this year, Chester, PA. To more fully serve participants, the program expanded this year to three weeks, with the first week held at WCU’s Philadelphia campus. iCamp now offers three college credits to students who attend all three weeks and enroll in digital storytelling coursework that adds up to approximately 50 classroom hours.

Program Director Dr. Laquana Cooke says, “We host a post-mortem at the end of each iCamp to discuss what went right and how we can improve. It is our roadmap for continuous improvement and led us to provide students with a deeper experience, including college credit.”

This program has been life-changing for me. The teachers and counselors are all here to help you.

 

iCamp exposes high school students to life on a college campus; gives students in Philadelphia and Chester a valuable free on-site learning program to attend over the summer months; and introduces the idea of connecting students’ artistic expression with being a catalyst for change.

Dean of WCU’s College of Arts and Humanities Dr. Jen Bacon says, “WCU is so proud of iCAMP and the work that it does to provide a free educational experience for students interested in the media arts and their connection to social justice. iCamp deepens the symbiotic relationship between the University and the region’s population. We have former iCampers attending WCU, some of whom might help run the camp in the future. But providing this experience is resource-intensive, so we hope to continue to attract community partners and organizations to help us sustain this important work.”

iCamp instructors include media experts from around the region. During the three weeks, instructors provide continuous feedback to help students start, pitch, and refine an idea, and to create storyboarding and scripts that lead to full-blown production.

Instructor Arial Taylor has been with iCamp for the past six years as a film instructor and notes, “iCamp is one of the most unique summer camps offered to urban students living in Philadelphia and Chester. The deep dive students take to explore social justice issues helps them to better understand not only themselves, but also their surrounding communities. And it’s not just about the product, but about the process. The fact that it continues to be free for attending students is a credit to both the leadership of iCamp and all of WCU.”

Though students from 15 different schools attended iCamp 2024, just slightly fewer than one-third of the total number came from Philadelphia’s Walter B. Saul High School, a long-time partner.

“This program has been life-changing for me. The teachers and counselors are all here to help you,” says 16-year-old Timothy Holmes, an iCamp attendee from Saul HS. His social justice media project is an interactive game that deals with police harassment and brutality. The gamer interacts with both the public and police officers to encourage empathy on both sides of the relationship. It was inspired by a Police Athletic League event that Holmes attended. “I didn’t know about WCU before and now I want to go here.”

Students and families interested in future iCamp sessions can visit https://icampwcu.org/.

iCamp received support from WCU’s Provost’s Enrollment Planning Investment grant (PEPI), WCU’s College of Arts and Humanities, and several corporate sponsors through the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program. Dr. Cooke is also a recipient of the prestigious National Endowment for the Humanities Spotlight grant.