 Where is camp being held?
DSSF has partnered with Utah Military Academy for summer camps this year. All summer camps will be held at UMA in Riverdale (5120 S 1050 W, Riverdale, UT). Where do campers sleep? STAR Camp will use 4-5 rooms for camper dorms. These rooms are regular classrooms during the school year. Campers will be sleeping on air mattresses or cots in these rooms, provided by STAR Camp. The number of dorm rooms will depend on enrollment for each camp, with 4-12 campers in each dorm. At registration, campers should select a dorm: Girls, Boys, Mixed Gender. If choosing a gender-specific dorm, we kindly request that you select the dorm of your child's gender assigned at birth. STAR Camp participants should remember that while we invite and encourage you to stay overnight, this aspect of camp is optional. A camper will not miss out on any activities if they choose to go home at night. The decision to stay overnight or be picked up at the end of each day is reversible at any time, through clear communication between parents and the STAR Camp directors. Read the full dorm policy here. Are there showers? YES. Utah Military Academy has three individual showers in the boys' locker room, and three in the girls'. We arrange a shower schedule at each camp, so every camper has an opportunity to shower most days if they wish. We encourage all campers to shower at least once while at camps that are four days or longer. Where and what do campers eat? Campers will eat in the UMA cafeteria. All meals while at camp are provided. The menu is subject to change at any time, but will generally follow this schedule:
What if my child has special dietary needs? Each student is required to fill out a simple medical form during registration. Please list any food allergies on this form so we can keep our kitchen and cafeteria safe for all campers. If your child requires special meal accommodations, please contact the camp director at least two weeks ahead of camp. Will friends and family be put on the same team? Because of the wide variety of students attending camp we cannot guarantee friends and family members will be put on the same team. Our long experience has shown that it is beneficial if a camper gets to know new people. Each camper will have the opportunity to interact with students from across the country and make new friends. Campers will have the opportunity to submit a dorm mate request when camp packets are mailed in May, and requests will be granted to the best of our ability. What if my child needs to take medication at camp? Utah State Law prohibits us from dispensing medication of any type to campers. Any prescribed or over the counter drugs must be sent with the student to camp. You will need to list all medications sent with the student on the medical form along with the dosage information. We can remind the student to take their meds at the parents’ request, but they must self administer them. If medication requires refrigeration, please let us know and we can take care of that. Because our days can sometimes be very long, it is advisable that parents send a small supply of over the counter headache or stomach ache medicine (e.g. Ibuprofen, Pepto Bismol tablets, etc.). How can I contact my child during camp? Campers will have the opportunity to call or text before breakfast and before lights out. If your camper does not have a cell phone, they may borrow a director’s phone during these times for a few minutes to make a phone call (no texting). Cell phones must be stored in suitcases during daytime hours. If you need to contact your child at any other time, you must call or text the camp number: 801-917-4829 How well are the campers supervised? The director, Annika Jensen, and 5-7 other staff members stay on site 24 hours a day while camp is in session. Annika’s husband, Ryan, is on site at night to provide extra security and supervision. We have tried very hard to set up a program that we, being parents ourselves, would feel comfortable sending our own children to. Can my child attend more than one camp in a summer? Absolutely! We have many campers who spend multiple weeks with us each year and we love it! A discount is automatically applied at checkout when you have multiple camps in your cart. Are discounts available? We work very hard to keep tuition as low as possible for all campers, and never want the cost to be the reason a child can't attend STAR Camp. Families who are registering multiple children for overnight camps will receive a 10% discount for each subsequent child. The children do not need to attend the same camps. You must register all children at the same time to receive the discounts. Contact us if you are adding children at a later date. All campers are encouraged to apply for a scholarship. Is financial aid available? We are always looking for individual and corporate donors to be able to offer scholarships. Please see our scholarship page or contact us for more information. Scholarship application deadlines, when available, are always in late April. Who can attend the graduation ceremony? We encourage all immediate family and grandparents to attend camp graduations! What should my child pack for camp? Packing lists for camp will be sent with the complete camp packet in May. What is your refund policy? Details of our refund policy are found here.
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Chocolate undergoes quite a transformation from cacao beans to the delicious sweet treat we know. So how does it work? Well, let's start with where cacao beans are found.
Cacao trees, scientifically known as Theobroma, only grow in tropical areas within 20 degrees of the equator. Midges, which are tiny flies, pollinate the flowers of the tree, which produce football-shaped pods that contain the beans. When they are ripe, the pods are harvested by hand. After harvesting, the beans are fermented. Microorganisms within the pods digest the pulp that surrounds the cacao beans. This converts the sugars in the beans into acids. This step decreases the bitterness of the beans. The bacteria and yeast produced by fermentation create the compounds that give chocolate its smell. Once fermentation is complete, farmers spread the beans in the sun to dry. At this point, water is removed from the beans, meaning that all of those lovely little microbes that have been munching away at the pulp can no longer live on the beans. After the beans are dry, they are roasted. When the roasted shells of the cacao beans are removed, what is left behind is called cacao nibs. The nibs undergo a process called conching, where the nibs are ground and heated into a paste. This is a key part of the process of making chocolate, as it removes undesirable flavors and improves favorable ones. Finally, cocoa butter is added, which decreases the thickness of the chocolate and makes it easier to mold. It's something to think about while you enjoy chocolate covered anything today! With Christmas almost upon us, you might be scrambling for a last minute present for your child. What's better than a toy that entertains and educates? Check out these recommendations for STEM toys for kids!
ThinkFun Gravity Maze Ages 8+ This game is what you get when you combine a marble run with a series of engineering challenges. Sillbird 12-in-1 Education Solar Robot Toy Ages 10+ This solar powered robot can be assembled 12 different ways. Kinetic Sand Ages 3+ This moldable sand behaves like wet sand and never dries out, so you can build and rebuild over and over again. Snap Circuits Electronics Exploration Kit Ages 8+ This kit gives kids safe, hands-on experience with electricity and circuits. Directions for more than 100 projects are included. Shashibo Shape-Shifting Box Ages 8+ Similar to a fidget toy, this shape-shifting box can be configured into 70 different designs. Test your spatial reasoning folding the pieces back together. ThinkFun Roller Coaster Challenge Ages 6+ This toy turns your child into a roller coaster engineer. Design a roller coaster based on the challenge you draw. Power Your Fun Fort Building Kit Ages 4+ Kids can build endless forts, tunnels, and other play structures with these easy to connect rods and spheres. Educational Insights GeoSafari Jr. Talking Microscope Ages 4+ Slip in any of the 60 colorful slides and learn more than 100 facts about animals, plants, and humans. National Geographic Rock Collection Box Ages 8+ The perfect gift for your budding geologist, this box comes with over 200 samples of rocks, minerals, and fossils, as well as a book and a magnifying glass to aid in identification. hand2mind Numberblocks MathLink Cubes Ages 3+ Use the linking counting cubes to recreate your favorite characters and the wipe-clean cards to complete math puzzles and games. (My own daughter has absorbed so many math concepts from Numberblocks! I am a big fan.) Merry Christmas, space fans! You might have heard people say that it's better to eat fruits and vegetables when they are in season. So what does "in season" mean, and what does science have to say about it? Well, both of those questions actually have pretty straightforward answers.
"In season" means during the season of the year where the fruit or vegetable is at its most ripe. Basically, nutrients in food are at their highest peak when the fruit is at its ripest. When you are eating fruit that is grown locally, it is picked closer to the time of actual ripeness. Foods that are not in season are often flown in from other areas of the world. Most transported foods have to harvested long before they are ripe to avoid spoiling, meaning that it doesn't reach peak ripeness and flavor. (However, if you can't get seasonal fruit and veggies or want to eat out of season food, don't worry! All fruits and veggies are still very nutritious!) Eating seasonally has other benefits too. One of them is that you get a wide variety of foods in your diet throughout the year. No single food can provide all of the vitamins and minerals that you need, so eating a varied diet is important for your body. Eating a varied diet even reduce your risk of developing chronic diseases! From an environmental standpoint, eating seasonally is better for the Earth. Foods that are in season are usually easier to get without having to ship them long distances, which reduces the environmental impact from fuel emissions and refrigeration. This also contributes to making local, in season food less expensive. When there's a lot of a food available in the store (because it's in season), they can charge less for it. Here's what's in season in December: Beets Cabbage Carrots Citrus Fruits Horseradish Leeks Onions Sprouts Turnips Winter squash Happy, healthy eating! |
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