Youth Education at the University of Utah

My son grew up in Club U summer camp and has done many of the specialized classes in robotics, coding, and art. He LOVED Club U, and I loved that learning in the summer can be fun. Next year he can return as a junior counselor and get some leadership experience. The added bonus? He is very comfortable on a college campus now, which makes it much less intimidating down the road. We love the U!

Camp U of U has been so fun for my son, a place where he made friends easily. The varied programming takes him all over the SLC area, introducing him to new activities each week. The counselors are fun and get to know the kids. My son attended at ages 6, 7, 8, 9...

Disappointing Experience with Lack of Supervision and Unhealthy Peer Interactions I regret to have to share my profoundly disappointing experience with the Engineering Electrified (Age 8-10) course offered by the University of Utah's Youth Education Program. The course, which is intended to provide children an introduction to engineering concepts, turned out to be a disturbing experience for my 9-year-old son. The issues he faced during this course were multiple and unacceptable for any educational program. Firstly, there was an utter lack of guidance and supervision from the instructor. The course was supposed to involve "complex model building with instructions," but the reality was far from it. The instructor left the children unsupervised, providing no instruction or direction. Secondly, my son faced bullying and bad influences in the classroom, which was a result of this lack of supervision. One child consistently took my son's building materials, and then would only return them if my son used inappropriate language. Other children insulted my son, telling him his creations were inferior and 'girly.' A girl in the class openly discussed how her parents allowed her to consume alcohol. These are not the kind of influences I would expect in a learning environment designed for children aged 8-10. I find it inexcusable that the University of Utah would allow such a class to be offered to young children. The emotional safety of children in such programs is paramount and should not be compromised. The Youth Education Program's discipline policy explicitly states that "students have the right to learn" and that "an extremely disruptive student interrupts the learning experience and upsets the other children." Unfortunately, my son's right to learn was severely impacted by the disruptive behavior of other students, and the lack of action taken by the instructor. I strongly urge parents to consider other options before enrolling their children in this course. I am sharing my experience to ensure that no other child has to go through what my son experienced in this course. I sincerely hope the University of Utah takes this feedback seriously and makes necessary changes to improve the program.

My two daughters both took classes this summer through the U’s Youth Education program. The took Fencing, Comic Book Art, Crazy Cartooning, Math Games Mania, and Green Energy Robotics. Every class was a huge hit!

My son took a Chess class through Youth Education and he absolutely loved it! We loved the instructor and he had the time of his life! Thanks!! We'll be back for more classes