Growing up with SUNY Oswego: Summer programs connect young learners to campus

This summer, 217 young learners spent their days on the SUNY Oswego campus building, exploring and discovering through the Barbara Shineman Summer Scholars (BSSS) program.

BSSS brings together three longstanding youth programs, Sheldon Institute, Exploring Nature at Rice Creek Field Station, and STEAM Camp, in one coordinated six-week summer program for students entering kindergarten through ninth grade. Many participants returned for multiple weeks and experiences, resulting in 406 enrollments in 2026.

"Our children absolutely love this program and look forward to Exploring Nature every year," one parent shared. "We love that it gets them thinking about the world around them and how they can interact with it."

Pathway from camper to colleague

The program's reach now extends well beyond the traditional camp years. Nine high school students in grades 10 to 12 took part in the newly formalized Student Assistants in Training (SAIT) initiative, building career-readiness skills while working alongside instructors and college staff. Fourteen SUNY Oswego students were also employed as paid student assistants, gaining hands-on experience working with youth and supporting instructors.

Those student assistants learn from instructors who followed the same path. Several of the certified K-12 teachers leading BSSS programs are SUNY Oswego alumni, who now bring their classroom experience back to campus to guide the next generation of learners.

Together, these opportunities create a pathway from youth participant to teen leader to SUNY Oswego student employee, building experience that can carry into a future career.

Campus-community connections

Community partners including PAWS of CNY, the American Red Cross, the Oswego County Health Department and Novelis brought wellness, preparedness, science, sustainability and career-connected experiences to the program. New this year, programming developed in partnership with Invention Convention challenged participants to identify a problem and design, build, and test their own solution.

Participants also made use of SUNY Oswego resources such as the planetarium, science lab in the Shineman Center, Penfield Library and Lee Hall swimming pool, while learning from some of the SUNY Oswego faculty including Lisa Glidden, director of the Great Lakes Institute, and biological sciences faculty members Yulia Artemenko and Daniel Baldassarre.

BSSS remains committed to making these experiences accessible to every family. Income-eligible families paid a reduced fee, and lunch was provided at no additional cost. Nearly $10,000 in scholarship and meal support was made possible by the Richard S. Shineman Foundation, the Tarandi Foundation and Rice Creek Associates.

Planning is already under way for expanded winter youth programming and for more SAIT and SUNY Oswego student assistant opportunities, strengthening a program designed to help young people not only come to SUNY Oswego, but grow up with it.

To learn more about youth programs at SUNY Oswego, or to ask about student assistant opportunities, contact Chelsea Ginett at [email protected].

-- Submitted by the Division of Extended Learning