Published on July 11, 2016 by Erin Bognar and Rachel Williams  
animate camp

Samford University’s School of the Arts has hosted multiple camps and workshops this summer that provide arts experiences for students in kindergarten through college, as well as teachers in the arts. 

Animate is the School of the Arts’ workshop for high school students interested in worship and leading worship. This year, the workshop expanded to two sessions that involved 125 students and adults participating in worship, courses in worship leadership, cultural and artistic experiences, and reflection.  

“It’s been meaningful to learn different aspects of how to plan worship, and to talk with our group and figure out ways to do that back in our own churches,” said Milligan Burroughs from Vestavia Hills, Alabama. 

Imagine Theatre for Youth Summer Camp, a theatre camps series, finished two sessions of the “Just for Fun!” camp. The camp was for kindergarten to 5th grade students who wrote lines for a play; created a backdrop, costumes and props; and performed their creations on the Harrison Theatre stage.  

The Magic Circle, also a part of Imagine Theatre Camps, was a two-week camp where 6th–12th grade students planned, created and participated in a production of All I Really Need to Know I Learned by Being in a Bad Play by Werner Trieschmann. 

Nine participants attended an Orff-Schulwerk workshop for elementary music teachers to improve their teaching pedagogy. This certification course has been offered since the 1980s for Samford students and teachers from all over the region. 

“This two-week intensive workshop offers elementary music educators instruction in the Orff-Schulwerk pedagogy, including theory and orchestration, movement, instrumental technique for barred percussion instruments such as xylophones, metallophones and glockenspiels, a wide variety of unpitched percussion, as well as soprano and alto recorder,” said Susanne Burgess, associate professor of music education. 

Samford’s Academy of the Arts also has a full summer of classes focusing on art, music and writing.  

Erin Bognar and Rachel Williams are journalism and mass communication majors and news and feature writers in the Division of Marketing and Communication.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.