Box information: An estimated 13,000 elementary, middle school and high school students will attend one of the camps and clinics hosted by the University of Oklahoma this summer. The camps range from the traditional outdoor sports related opportunities to classroom and laboratory based science and technology offerings. Information on several camps and clinics can be found at the following sites:

Soonersports.com has a complete list of its sports camps and clinics under its Sooner Fans tab.

OU University Outreach will have several summer academies during the break. Information can be found at http://youth.ou.edu/summer_academies.html.

Students interested in aviation could earn their wings at Sooner Flight Academy. Contact Lauren Mitchell, director, at lmitchell //flightcamp.ou.edu.

The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History has a variety of options available in its Summer Explorers 2007 program. Information can be found at http://www.snomnh.ou.edu/education/SummerExplorers2007.htm.

The fourth annual Summer Journalism Workshop of the Oklahoma Institute for Diversity in Journalism will provide high school juniors and seniors an opportunity to experience life as a journalist. For more information, call Ray Ch?vez at 325-4143.



By Tony Pennington

Transcript Staff Writer

Bernard A. Harris has earned his place in history.

The onetime NASA astronaut, physician and businessman was the first African-American to perform a space walk. It was a long journey from his "modest" Texas childhood home to the stars. It's a path Harris, 51, hopes today's youth will not only duplicate, but vastly improve upon.

Harris, in conjunction with the ExxonMobil Foundation, will offer 20 two-week free residential camps this summer for disadvantaged middle schools students at 19 university campus locations across the country. The 2007 ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camps are designed to encourage leadership and citizenship skills through innovative science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs.

More than 1,000 students are expected to be served by the camps this summer. Students must be academically qualified and recommended by their teachers. The summer program also traditionally strives to include underrepresented populations and introduce them to the diverse opportunities in fields of math and science.

"I came from a modest home, probably from a similar situation as some of the students," Harris said. "What I want to provide is hope, hope to follow their dreams. We want them to leave camp with the tools necessary to excel."

The University of Oklahoma was selected for a camp and will begin boarding students Sunday. Other sites include Southwest Oklahoma State University, Weatherford; Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.; University of Southern California, Los Angeles; and New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, N.J.

This is the first year the Harris camps have been expanded to a national level. For more than 10 years the summer offerings were held at the University of Houston and SWOSU. OU was among the more than 30 universities to submit a request to host a camp. Harris said the selection process was in-depth and thorough.

"We put together a selection committee," Harris explained. "We started out with a big list of schools and sent out requests for proposals."

With proposals in hand, the committee identified institutions that had demonstrated a commitment to youth and education. It also increased the number of students Harris could reach from 80 to more than 1,000.

"We are really pretty excited about starting this summer," Harris said.

When the students arrive at OU they will be plugged into a college atmosphere. Harris said the two weeks would be packed with hands-on experiments, lectures, site visits and guest speakers.

"We combine secondary students with university professors and students," Harris said of the curriculum. "It exposes them to what they can expect when they get to college."

Harris' kids won't be the only students gaining real world experience this summer in Norman. OU also is the site for the fourth annual Summer Journalism Workshop of the Oklahoma Institute for Diversity in Journalism. Much like the Harris camps, the workshop, June 17-29, seeks to provide opportunities for students who may not have access to educational pursuits.

More than 20 career-minded Oklahoma high school juniors and seniors will pound the pavement of Norman "scaring up some news."

"They will be doing real world stories and assignments," said OIDJ Director Ray Ch?vez. "The will be making contacts, conducting interviews ... anything journalism related, we are going to do that."

When they aren't taking notes or asking questions, the young reporters will assemble a newspaper, create broadcast material and produce a documentary. They also will visit newsrooms, television stations and interact with industry professionals.

Ch?vez said it was important give the students a sample of all aspects of journalism as it could lead to a career in journalism or mass communications. It also could help newsrooms mirror their coverage areas.

"Although the number of minority journalists has improved," Ch?vez said, "it does not reflect the communities newspapers cover."

And when that last story is filed and it's time to go home, the students will leave with more than they came with.

"We want to expose them to some good role models and establish a pretty good network of contacts for them," Ch?vez said.

Tony Pennington 366-3541 tpennington@normantranscript.com