When most people think of summer camp, they inevitably think of all of the stereotypes perpetuated in movies from the classic “Meatballs” to the more recent “Wet Hot American Summer,” where camps are filled with overwhelmed staff and a legion of rowdy, misbehaving kids.
However, nothing could be further from the truth, especially at Camp Galileo in Culver City.
Located on the campus of Turning Point School, their mission is to create a world of fearless innovators and they do so by offering kids from Pre-K to 8th grade, a week-long curriculum that will expand their minds and broaden their knowledge of art, science, and the great outdoors.
Although Galileo is the umbrella name for the program, the camp itself is actually split into two groups: Camp Galileo and Summer Quest.
At Camp Galileo, kids from Pre-K to 5th grade, get treated to a regular rotation on art, science, and outdoor activities, while at Summer Quest, the kids from 5th grade to 8th grade focus on one of five “majors,” in which the kids will spend their entire one-week stay creating and designing special projects.
The five majors are Fashion Design, where kids will produce a mini collection featuring machine-sewn, hand-painted garments, bags, and accessories; Chefology: Decadent Desserts, where kids will learn to design and prepare a signature dessert; Go-Kart Builders, where kids design and build their own go-karts; Chefology: International Eats, where campers learn the ins and out of Japanese sushi, Mexican quesadillas, Moroccan couscous, and Indian lassi; and Mod Design with Minecraft, where campers learn Minecraft code and Java to create their own digital designs.
Camp Director Roi Matalon says that for each major, the Summer Quest campers will design their projects and then display them in an end-of-week show for the other campers and staff.
“[For example,] Between Monday and Friday, they’ll spend the entire week building their go-kart from scratch so they will get all of the wood, all of the raw materials and build the go-kart,” Matalon said. “They put all of the designs and additions they want and then they get to take it home at the end of the week.”
If all of that sounds amazing, Matalon says that it is and is what separates the Galileo program from other summer camp experiences.
“The curriculum content is really like nothing else around,” Matalon said, “The level of detail that goes into our projects that the campers are working on. It really focuses on what campers are learning from the experience, the interactive nature of the project is really quite incredible.”
For example, Matalon said that one group of campers actually created a working vacuum and designed various filters for it to discover what kind of objects it would pick up.
The overall theme of the Galileo Program is called the Galileo Innovation Approach (GIA). Developed as an offshoot of the Stanford d.school approach where students are encouraged to collaborate in an effort to produce creative solutions to complex problems, the GIA functions as the program’s pathway to knowledge.
Within the GIA are three basic concepts that influence the work and thinking of every one of the 200 campers who arrive for their week-long stay: the innovator’s mindset, the innovator’s knowledge, and the innovator’s process.
“The (Galileo) Innovation Approach is based on the idea of getting campers to create a design, to have a vision for their project, and to follow the steps toward seeing that vision become a reality and then design and redesign,” Matalon said.
There is no selection process for kids to become part of the program, however, because of Galileo’s popularity and solid reputation within the educational community, spots fill fast and early.
While getting into Galileo is quite easy for kids, when it comes to educators, it’s a whole different ballgame.
The Galileo Program has a very competitive selection process. Of all of the teachers who apply for a position, only about 10 percent are selected to become an educator at Galileo.
This summer, Galileo filled 120 educator positions in its four locations throughout all of southern California. Of that number, 45 are at the Culver City location.
Galileo educators come from all background, from regular classroom teachers to others who have a lot of experience working with kids.
Matalon said that Galileo is known as the best in the education business, which is not surprising, considering that the program was rated work four summers in a row as the best place in the bay area, where Galileo started, for young people to work.
As a member of the staff, educators receive a full two-day weekend of training before camp begins in such subjects as camper management, lead instructor training, and curriculum development.
In addition, throughout the summer educators do professional development check-ins, where the teachers check their progress on achieving specific academic and development goals, and perform a mid-camp self-evaluation. The educators also participate in a survey about their experience as teachers.
“It’s not just about making this experience as great as it can be for all of our campers, but how do we support you as a staff person in your longer journey as an educator?” Matalon said.
Founded in 2002, the first Galileo camp was established in Palo Alto by Glen Tripp to inspire design thinking, creative problem solving and innovation strategies.
In 2015, Galileo was recognized for supporting the President’s Educate to Innovate initiative as one of the programs engaging kids in STEM fields and their passions. Today, Galileo operates more than 45 camps throughout the Bay Area and in Los Angeles.