MCC Kicks Off College for Kids and Teens Summer Programs

Middlesex Community College’s College for Kids and Teens summer programs are off to a strong start! Taught by experts in the field, courses are designed to help young students explore future career options. Most courses run for one week to allow students to pick and choose from a variety of options they can fit into their busy summer plans.

“MCC’s College for Kids and Teens courses engage young students in exciting and fun ways while providing early exposure to subjects, majors and careers,” said Lauren Ellis, MCC’s Director of Workforce Development & Life Long Learning. “Signing up for classes over the summer keeps students’ minds fresh throughout the summer months, while they learn more about what they will and won’t want to pursue later in life.”

MCC’s College for Teens this summer include Engineering and CAD, 20th and 21st Century Music, Business and Creative Writing. Christine Laviolette, MCC Medical Laboratory Technology professor, taught a College for Teens Medical Laboratory Technician Career Exploration course earlier in the summer to introduce students to the field.

“Students in my Medical Laboratory Technician program were engaged and very curious about the role of the medical laboratory technician as it applies to the overall healthcare team,” Laviolette said. “They got to perform some basic hands-on testing and really seemed to enjoy it. They asked some excellent questions. Dare I say, we may have planted a seed in a couple of students – I know one said that his participation in our class solidified his decision to attend MCC after high school graduation.”

Featuring both half- and full-day programs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Thursday, MCC’s College for Kids programs will run through August 18. Kids ages 8 to 17 can choose courses on subjects such as the creative arts, sports, cooking and baking, fashion design, film production and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

Featuring hands-on, interactive lessons, one of the major benefits of taking MCC’s College for Kids summer programs is that the courses cover subjects that are not traditionally taught in school. In MCC’s Graphic Design and Web Design for beginners courses, students learn skills and software that are used in a variety of careers.

In the graphic design course, students create their own board game using Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign to make artwork, rules, themes and setups of the games from beginning to end. The web design course helps student design their own website using Adobe XD on a theme of their choosing, which could include an art portfolio, a fan page, video game forum, or more.

“It’s never too early for students to start thinking about their futures,” Ellis said. “MCC makes sure to encourage doing so in fun and hands-on ways!”