Summer Camp Population at Mississippi College Climbs to 6,000 Students

Lively worship services, quiet time for Bible study and loads of athletic events are all part of the mix at Mississippi College’s summer camps in 2014.

Leaders expect MC’s camp population will jump to 6,000 students, the biggest total in the last three years. About 5,000 youngsters attended the summer camps last year.

Helping the numbers grow on the Clinton campus, Student Life, the Birmingham-based Christian organization, will send 1,000 junior and senior high students to Mississippi College for the first time. The camps will be in session July 21-25.

In June, Student Life camps will operate at such schools as Wake Forest University in North Carolina, Stetson University in Florida, and Lee University in Tennessee. In July, the organization will send teens to Samford University in Birmingham, the University of North Texas, and Palm Beach Atlantic University.

Created in 1993, Student Life maintains several inter-denominational Christian camps, conferences and resources that transform the lives of thousands of kids.

“We are real excited to have them here,” says Ken Gilliam, MC’s continuing education director who oversees summer camps at the Baptist-affiliated university.

Summer camp season at Mississippi College gets kicked off June 3 when hundreds of cheerleaders arrive from such schools as Jackson Academy, Northwest Rankin, Jackson Prep and Madison-Ridgeland Academy.

It just gets busier after that.

Among other key dates:

--The Mississippi Symphony Orchestra camp runs from June 9-14.

--New Mississippi College football coach John Bland and his Choctaws staff will offer two football camps on June 10 and July 8. Not to be outdone, there’s a Lady Choctaws team basketball camp led by MC coach Paul Duke and his staff June 12-14.

--A super hoops team camp June 26-28, and volleyball hitters clinic July 7-8 are among other notable dates to circle on the calendar. Music camps are a popular summer attraction each year with award-winning Mississippi College professors leading the sessions. Children travel from Jackson metro schools and beyond and showcase their skills in concert.

From the Fuge camps of LifeWay Resources of Nashville starting June 9 through the Mississippi Baptist Convention’s Super Summer camps July 14-18, there’s seldom a dull moment on the Clinton campus. As Central Mississippi temperatures sizzle into the 90s, the MC camps draw boys and girls from 17 Southeastern states.

A graphic design workshop June 16-18 will be one of the new items added to the summer calendar at the Christian university.

Camp costs are very affordable, Gilliam noted. Parents typically pay $295 to send their child to Fuge camp for a week. Fuge camps blend spiritual growth, sports activities, overnight stays in residence halls and nutritious meals at the university’s cafeteria.

For more information, contact Ken Gilliam at 601-925-3264 or gilliam@mc.edu.