Cowley College Sumner campus was the vision of Stacy Davis, Sumner County Economic Development Director, Annarose White, Wellington Chamber Director, and the Cowley College administration. They spent endless hours talking to the community about the vision and how to make it a reality. The vision became reality when the sales tax dollars for building the campus were passed by Sumner County voters. The Technology and Innovation Center was opened in August 2018. The Short General Education Center was opened in May 2019. The campus vision was for a place for student and community engagement and learning opportunities. This continues to be accomplished through the programs (degree and certificate) offered at the site. They include but are not limited to welding, machine tools, IT, general education courses, CNA, EMS, AG, and GED. Residential housing is being built for 16 students to live in beginning in August 2022.
The campus is fully utilized by the community. Rotary and Lions host their weekly meetings at this site. School districts and businesses utilize the classrooms and community room for their training. Golden Tigers is a program Cowley College has been offering for years for those 50 and older. Classes, fitness, and field trips are a few of the opportunities that are offered. Cowley College Sumner campus started offering Golden Tiger programs in September 2019.
KanOkla and Cowley College Sumner provide summer computer camps for middle school and high school students. This is the fourth summer for this program in Caldwell. Each year the camp gets more creative in its offerings. There is no cost to the attendees. This year, the summer camp will be for middle school students during the week of July 25th – 29th in Caldwell. Please contact Leah Eakes at KanOkla for information on how to register for the camp.
This summer, KanOkla, Cowley College, and USD353 are offering an IT summer camp at the Wellington Middle School in Wellington. It will be offered on June 20-24 for grades 4-8. If interested, please go to the following website: https://tinyurl.com/353ITcamp
KanOkla, Cowley College, Sumner Cowley Electric Coop, Sumner County Economic Development, and USD353 are offering an elementary school robots camp. The camps will be from 8:30 to noon at the Sumner campus in the Short building. Monday, July 11th is for grades K-2, Tuesday, July 12th for grades 3-5, and Wednesday, July 13th will be for grades 6-8. Summer school students in Wellington are automatically enrolled. Additional details and a registration link will be out shortly.
The Robotic Challenge for middle school students was discussed and started in 2020. KanOkla approached Cowley College about a program to encourage middle schoolers to appreciate STEM. Plans were put in place for the First Robotic Challenge. A partnership was formed with KanOkla, Cowley College, Sumner Cowley Electric Coop, and Sumner County Economic Development to organize, support, educate, and provide the robotic challenge. This program is of no cost to the schools, students, or instructors. Five schools provided a total of 12 teams (60 students). The first challenge was successful. The Second Robotic Challenge held on April 22, 2022, had ten schools with a total of 27 teams (143 students!!). Discussions for expansion, challenges, etc. are ongoing. The challenges are open to the public.
The vision became a reality. The campus is a place for learning for all ages, gathering for fellowship, and generating new ideas/programs for the future. Please come see us!
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