DELAWARE — The Ingram-White Castle Foundation is awarding Ohio Wesleyan University’s OWjL Camp a three-year $11,250 grant to provide scholarships for talented and gifted middle school students selected to attend the weeklong academic camp.
The award is the second consecutive Ingram-White Castle Foundation (IWCF) traditional grant given to OWjL Camp. The Foundation selects its funding recipients based on criteria that include serving disadvantaged students and helping them achieve academic success; helping prepare students for the world of work; strengthening educational institutions; and addressing critical human service needs.
Susan Paxton, executive director of OWjL Camp, said the Ingram-White Castle Foundation funds will help enable six economically disadvantaged students to attend the camp during each of the next three years.
“For many students attending camp,” she said, “this is the first time they recognize ‘it’s cool to be smart.’ ”
Each summer, Ohio Wesleyan hosts three weeklong residential sessions of OWjL Camp for sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students from Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Knox, Licking, Madison, Marion, Morrow, Pickaway and Union counties.
Students attending OWjL Camp select courses from an academic program that includes mathematics, logic, computing, science, humanities, and creative development. Cultural, recreational, and social activities round out the experience.
Pronounced “owl,” the camp’s acronym stands for Ohio Wesleyan/Junior League of Columbus, which founded the program 40 years ago. Since then, nearly 16,000 children have benefited from the OWjL experience.
OWjL was created following a two-year study that determined talented and gifted middle school students were underserved during the school year with programs to promote discovery and foster skills in problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, research, leadership, and communication.
Learn more at www.owu.edu/owjl.
