TechTown and library offer spring break camp

The main branch of the Chattanooga Public Library is located on Broad Street between 10th and 11th streets in downtown Chattanooga.
The main branch of the Chattanooga Public Library is located on Broad Street between 10th and 11th streets in downtown Chattanooga.

If you go

What: TechTown Spring Break Camp, for ages 10-17When: 9 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., March 30 - April 3Where: Chattanooga Public Library, 4th Floor, 1001 Broad StreetCost: $179 per camper Registration at https://gotechtown.com/spring-break-camps

TechTown and Chattanooga Public Library are teaming up to offer a children's tech camp during spring break, with one track focused on videography, the other on robotics and circuitry.

The camp runs 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., March 30-April 3, on the library's fourth floor and is limited to 70 participants.

The videography camp will take kids through the entire filmmaking process: story boarding, roles on the set, post-production and special effects. Each camper will make a promotional video, an informational YouTube video and a short film.

In the circuitry unit, campers will learn the basics of inputs, outputs and logic gates with littleBits magnetic circuitry kits. The campers will then move on to using breadboards and programming micro controllers. In the robotics unit, the campers will work with LEGO Mindstorms EV3 kits and learn about sensors and code logic, and they will program autonomous machines. They'll also be charged with overcoming robotics challenges as a team.

TechTown, a youth-focused technology and entrepreneurial learning center, said it created the spring program because of demand it noticed during a one-day pop-up camp it hosted on Martin Luther King Day. That free event had 500 attendees, TechTown said. The spring-break camp, however, includes a fee: $179 per camper.

TechTown also is offering six weeks of summer camp, expected to be held in its downtown Chattanooga Lifestyle Center location scheduled to open in June. Each week costs $295 per participant, and there are nearly a dozen tracks. That camp runs 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, June 29-Aug. 7.

Summer camp for ages 11 to 17 includes tracks in each of the following subjects: coding (Minecraft, apps, game design); design (3-D, Web); videography (film/video, new media), robotics and circuitry.

The summer camp for children ages 7 to 10 is meant to introduce them to how technology works. Campers will get hands-on experience with 2-D design, 3-D design, introductory circuitry, code and more. For more information, check gotechtown.org/summer2015.

Contact staff writer Mitra Malek at mmalek@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6406. Follow her on Twitter @MitraMalek.

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