Day 0 & Day 1

Hello parents!

Hopefully you are surviving your first full day without your amazing girls =) On Day 0 (because as you may or may not know, in CS, zero is the first number), we had our Opening Ceremony at Foellinger. We were so glad to see how many of you were able to make it! Professor Lenny Pitt showed us a few magic tricks and you all saw a "Squeak" peek of what your girls would be doing this week. Later that day, we all had dinner at the Illini Union while your girls chatted with each of the Counselors, Coordinators, and Teachers. The girls had a blast during the speed dating session and even learned about how so many professions in the Math, Engineering, and Science fields overlap! Afterwords, we saw a great Motorola presentation, played with some of the brand new, unreleased Motorola cell phones, and played Jeopardy for CHOCOLATE! It just doesn't get better than that... until you hear about Day 1!

On Monday, the girls learned how to make the PERFECT peanut butter and jelly sandwich. To their surprise, it took much more detail, explanation, and instruction than they thought. The girls also learned about how a robot with no visual capabilites could find its way through a maze. Finally, your girls took on the role of some of the vital human organs and discussed ways that they worked separately and together. And whats crazier is that they did all of this before 10:30 in the morning!

Later that day, the girls learned how to drive. That's right... drive. They drew cars, steering wheels, and roads on Squeak and used their newly acquired computer programming language to drive it! While some of the girls revealed that they needed some driving lessons and a permit before getting behind the wheel, all of them were able to create fully functioning vehicles! It was absolutely amazing!

After some of that computer fun, the girls took the infamous camp photo. It was HOT! And when I say HOT, I mean that we were outside while all 200 campers posed for a few snapshots. The girls looked gorgeous as usual. We expected nothing less.

Finally, the girls took a field trip to Loomis Laboratory to watch the Physics Van. If you think those volcanos made with vinegar and baking soda are cool, wait until you hear about this! The Physics Van provided us with some CRAZY special effects like the ones you see in movies. The only difference was that they were live, loud, and we learned something from them! We saw some (safe!) explosions, blasts, and airborne objects. The girls LOVED it!

Pictures from the day will be posted shortly, so stay tuned!