High schoolers take a turn as college students at summer academy

Published 1:05 pm Friday, August 1, 2025

College came early this summer for more than 90 high school students who spent a week living and learning at Oregon State University-Cascades in Bend, diving into courses from engineering to art while getting a taste of campus life.

Summer Academy was back in full force, offering two week-long sessions meant to show high schoolers what it’s like to be on a college campus, both socially and academically.

“For campers, (we want them to know) college is accessible. This experience is eye-opening to some of those who maybe have never thought about or got a sense of what being an adult is like. We try to treat them like they’re young adults, give them a lot of freedom that comes with responsibility,” said Quentin Comus, camp director. “We want them to leave being fulfilled in the academic exploration, career exploration, knowing that they are fully capable of setting their path.”

The first week, the campus offered classes in art, media and technology, outdoor products and computer science. The second week, courses were in art, media and technology, kinesiology and engineering. Students chose which tracks they are interested in joining. Campers joined from Oregon, Colorado, Maryland, Washington and California, and a few international students joined last week as well, said Comus.

Students have about 25 hours of academic instruction throughout the week. Campers also did leadership and personal development activities as well as recreation activities, such as a game night. Students also attended a private screening of “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” at the Regal cinema in the Old Mill District.

“(We’re) trying to give them a mix of the academic instruction, because that’s why this camp exists, is to expose them to careers and majors, but also to get to know each other and have a fun time,” said Comus.

Counselors and community

Comus has a team of 10 counselors who are college students at Oregon State University in Corvallis, or the Cascades branch. Counselors have gone through hundreds of hours training that started in the spring and are from a mix of academic majors. They all had some interest in childcare or teaching, he said. Comus made sure that counselors would also find a close-knit community at the summer academy. One counselor is a former academy camper and joined specifically to give students the same experience.

“We were very intentional in making sure that the camp was co-designed by those counselors, so they had stake in what social activities, what recreation activities we could do, and then we had OSU-Cascades faculty and instructors who actually teach the academic portions,” said Comus. “A lot of our counselors know all the kids’ names, where they’re from, their stories, a lot of friendships we’ve seen develop.”

Most students are staying in the dorm for the week, though there are some day campers, said Comus. Breakfast starts at 8:30 and lights out is 10 p.m. Most of the day is full of activities.

In the engineering track, students worked with circuits and studied structural design. The 20 students have taken field trips to other Central Oregon businesses, such as a bike manufacturer. Guest speakers have also come in a few days this week.

“I really am enjoying learning about what seems to be mostly electrical engineering, with some mechanical thrown in, which were the two that I was really looking at wanting to major in,” said Lex Bowersox-Blanchette, who is 16 and from Milwaukie, Oregon. “I’ve made a lot of friends from the other two tracks … It’s been really cool to do all of these fun things with a bunch of people I wouldn’t have known otherwise. I’ve been able to stay in the dorm with my roommate, who’s been really awesome. He’s probably going to be a friend for a long time.”

Bowersox-Blanchette has enjoyed talking to the counselors about preparing for college, and was happy to see a beautiful sunset while out walking earlier this week.

Romy Arends, a 16-year-old camper from Redmond who was in the kinesiology track, said she’s really interested in learning about blood flow and heart rates and has enjoyed all the activities she’s been part of to get a college experience before college actually starts.