Camp College at Mercer County College runs a youth program 2012. The Specialty Camps are not very good and some are very awful, not educational and just a baby sitting, arts and crafts camp. The course descriptions do not deliver the expectations. The Junkyard Warriors camp program is elementary even though it list the ages from 11- 14 perferred, the Director of the Program told me that I, as the parent, am responsible for putting my just turned 15 yr old in it because he is too old. This program should get a new title "Recycle Can Warriors, yet it still will not deserve the title since the campers are instructed to pickup bottle caps from the campus but are also given bottle caps, drinking straws, and cardboard to tape together something of a car and paper airplanes. There is no explanation from the instructor to why and how things work. There were no mechanical motors or availability for children to stretch their imaginations or discussions for creating other means of energy driven vehicles. The brochure explains it is a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathmatics) program. Nothing of the sort is being taught. Kids ages 7-14 are shown a YouTube video for creating an arts/craft carboard car and make paper airplanes. They spent the day taping straws to paper airplanes to see if they could fly more than six feet. They place paper clips on a floating piece of paper to see how many would make it sink. All with no explanation. This program should target Kindergarten - third grade children. My children have done these experiments during those grades. The Director of Youth and Special Programs, Rose Fiorello, is defensive of the Black Rockett Productions program JunkYard Warriors and she will not allow you to explain your disappointment. She is beligerent and told me to look her name and title up on the camp brochure and refused to give it to me. Although, she said she would provide a refund in two to three weeks for withdrawing from the program, she will not refund the After Camp cost. The two days my son spent in the "Junkyard Warrior" program he was signed up to go to the library and do his summer school work for 1 hour while waiting for me to pick him up. They moved him out of the library and sent him to the "childrens movie" area because they did not have enough counselors. He had to sit outside the movie to read his summer school work and I have to pay for it. He hardly had time to read while they moved him around and Mercer County College is charging me for the entire week of this after camp cost.
This is a warning to all parents considering placing your children in the Specialty Camps at at Mercer County College. These programs do not live up to the camp brochure descriptions. Rose Fiorello the Director of Youth and Special Programs lied to me. She also placed blame on my son by saying he is too old, but they accepted him and took my money. I think any kid over 9 is too old for that program. She will not take responsibility for this lousy program that she included in her summer curriculum. I hope other parents aren't taken for a ride wasting their money and time with programs like this and until Mercer County College takes responsibilty to deliver better quality camp programs. Don't waste your time or money. I am going to the Board of Directors with this complaint.
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