Young collegians

Just a few short weeks into summer vacation, scores of area 9- to 13-year-olds will start getting up early to get to college on time.

They’ll take classes in archery, wilderness survival, cartooning, Italian cooking, horseback riding and magic.

Or they may prefer building rockets, improvisational acting, learning etiquette, creative writing or dabbling in fashion, make-up and modeling.

This isn’t some stuffy, old Ivy League school. It’s Youth College, the first and longest-running program of its kind in Spokane, said Rhosetta Rhodes, director of continuing education at Spokane Falls Community College, which launched the program in 1989.

Every summer since, the community college has hosted this hands-on phenomenon for kids who are too old for baby sitters and too young to be home alone all day, said Doris Andrews, longtime camp coordinator.

Twelve-year-old Eileen Navratil said it’s so much fun she’ll be attending for her third summer in a row.

“There are so many different classes I want to take this year, it’s hard to figure out how to put the schedule together,” the Spokane girl said in a phone interview.

More than 40 different courses are offered during three, separate one-week sessions. And for the first time this year, teens who’ve outgrown the traditional fare are eligible for a “Totally Teen Experience,” a week of classes for 14- to 16-year-olds in off-road bicycling, technology, performing arts, comic strip art, creative writing and painting.

Last summer, Jimmy Claypool learned about wilderness survival and horseback riding, assembled and launched a small rocket, played flag football and tennis, went bowling and honed his comedy skills.

“It’s fun to be able to learn how to do stuff and get better at it,” said the 11-year-old Spokane boy.

Sarah Klein, 12, headed straight for the Busy Bee Ranch, where campers ride bareback and learn to coax 900-pound steeds around an indoor arena.

“You have to use your leg muscles to hold onto the horse so you don’t fall – it makes your muscles hurt. I was nervous the first time I rode,” admitted Klein, of Spokane. “But I just practiced; and since I love horses, I trusted them.”

Grooming the big critters can get a little tedious, she said.

“When you’re using the hoof pick, it really makes your back ache from all the bending over and it seems like a long time doing all (four) of them,” Klein recalled.

The barn’s aroma and the grit of horse care are all part of the experience, said Larry Beeler, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel who’s been around horses for a half-century and owns the Busy Bee Ranch where lessons are held. And classes fill up quickly.

“Most American kids handle dirt and stink very well,” he said with a laugh. “We teach them horses from A to Z. And we do have a dress code: Shoes, long trousers, shirts with sleeves, no T-shirts with spaghetti straps, no open-toed shoes, no shorts and they do wear helmets.”

Campers naturally meet new kids from around the Inland Northwest.

“You’re with them all week and you can just hang out and it’s really fun. I had a friend from Youth College and I met him again at (the YMCA’s) Camp Reed and now we hang out a lot,” said Alex Steinmetz, 12.

Strolling around the college campus gives campers a taste of academic freedom.

“It’s exciting and kind of freaky at the same time,” said Steinmetz. “All you get is a map and a little tag to tell you where to go and you have to walk across campus. But after three or four days you get to know the campus and you don’t have to use the map.”

Youth College staff and assistants also help students find their classes and keep an eye on them, organizers said.

And campers say it’s cool just basking in the presence of college students, many of whom congregate near the library.

“They seem nice and look like they’re having a fun time – if you can have a fun time at school,” Steinmetz said. “They just look at you, smile and keep on working.”

The instructors, many of whom toil at other jobs the rest of the year, seem to enjoy the kids as much as the kids enjoy their classes.

“I just really like the kids and I think that’s what a lot of the teachers are out there for,” said Spokane graphic artist Mike Carroll, who teaches cartooning and operates CID, Carroll Illustrations and Design. “I take them from the very basics of how to construct a cartoon character, from the face to the figure. At the end, I have them construct a comic strip. A lot of kids have a lot of drawing talent and kids that age tend to like comics and art.”

Archery is one of the first classes to fill up each year. Boyd Foster, a professor of fitness, wellness and exercise at Gonzaga University, is an assistant in the archery class. Its novelty appeals to kids, he said.

“It’s unusual to them and it isn’t something they’ve had access to,” he said. “I’d say 90 percent of them haven’t ever touched a bow or arrow before, so we have a lot of safety the first day or two. But it’s something they can all excel at. I’ve never had a kid who hasn’t been able to hit the target five or six times a day.”

Tullia Barbanti has been with the Youth College since its beginnings, and believes her Kid Chefs in the Kitchen class plays right into a natural interest many kids have.

“You don’t realize how much children love to cook,” she said in her thick Italian accent. “You’re putting a seed for their future.”

Sometimes that seed is the first peek at college life.

Teaching assistant Victoria Nicodemus said, “They meet different people from different walks of life. They’re on the college campus, eat in the cafeteria and it makes them feel like they’re in college. It’s a positive experience for kids who might not otherwise get to see a college.

“And they say: ‘Oh, look, this is what college life would be like.’ And then, maybe they’ll come” when they’re older, she said.