SynaVoice SOL provides equitable access to enrichment opportunities Pop-up virtual camp for high school students
Oakton, VA
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July 24, 2020 07:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time
SynaVoice SOL is a virtual camp for high school students. Our mission is to provide exposure to new ideas, concepts, and skills that will inform college, career, and life choices for the students. Founded at the juncture of the COVID 19 quarantine crisis and the social movement to expose long-held systemic racism in our society, SynaVoice SOL aims to create an environment where campers of all backgrounds can meet to engage in interesting and thought-provoking conversations.
Julie Rothhouse, Founder of SynaVoice SOL stated, “Diversity is the cornerstone of SynaVoice SOL. Our camp was founded on the principle of equitable access to our unique topics. Once we declared our intention, our networks went to work to help us recruit a diverse group of campers and counselors.” Through introductions and word-of-mouth, SynaVoice has been able to partner with independent schools to identify scholarship candidates. In addition, SynaVoice has reached into communities and engaged school districts to spread the word about SynaVoice SOL. To date, campers from 11 different states, the Seneca Nation of Indians, Switzerland, and Brazil have enrolled in SynaVoice SOL sessions.
As with our campers, SynaVoice SOL counselors are an equally diverse group of accomplished college students who serve as role models for the campers. The paid counselor positions provide a resume-building experience for college students during the summer of COVID when most of their planned activities were cancelled or scaled back considerably. Counselors represent Brown University, New York University, Frostburg State University, Wake Forest University, The College of William and Mary, Johns Hopkins University, and College of the Holy Cross. Counselor recruiting was solely through word-of-mouth and networking.
SynaVoice SOL is partnering with Productions Plus – The Talent Shop to produce and execute the camp sessions. Margery Krevsky Dosey, CEO of Productions Plus stated, “The camps are a unique forum for high school students and counselors to have meaningful conversations about topics of interest. The diversity enriches the conversations and the experience for all involved.” Ms. Rothhouse added, “We are grateful to our sponsors, without them we would not have been able to execute our vision. In particular, Global Services supported our scholarships with a generous contribution and Cabin 3 Media supported our efforts with introductions to partner schools, scholarship support, and video production support.”
There is still time to register a high school student for the final two sessions, True Crime: Introduction to Criminal Law & Criminal Cases with Dr. James D. Diamond and The Influence of Design: History & Design of Logos with Curt Doty.
If you would prefer to donate to SynaVoice SOL to support our continued efforts, you can do so here.
