San Diego Kids & Teens

Summer Camps

This summer, register for OTL Summer Camps! Our exciting summer camps for San Diego kids and teens dive into digital media topics!

June 20-July 21

Location: 5 Locations Listed Below

Camps run Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 1:00pm-5:30pm at each of the following sites.

NOTE: Each camp is 5 weeks long

Sherman Elementary
301 22nd St, San Diego, CA 92102

Dewey Elementary
3251 Rosecrans St, San Diego, CA 92110

Euclid Elementary
4166 Euclid Ave, San Diego, CA 92105

Perkins Elementary
1770 Main St, San Diego, CA 92113


Grades: 3 - 5

Crafty Camera (SD Unified Level Up & SD Foundation)

Click, create, craft! Join this hands-on class and discover new ways of using photography to make mixed-media images. This non-stop fun, high-quality summer program is for students in grades 3-5. This 5-week program takes place from June 20 - July 21, from 1:00 pm -5:30 pm. Crafty Camera offers Visual and Media Arts learning opportunities with activities for students to develop key photography skills such as vantage points, elements, composition, double exposure, macro/micro photography, and magnification. Learn portraiture, and mixed media line drawing or join a more advanced class with a focus on building film and video skills. NOTE: This is a San Diego Unified Level Up Camp. If your student attends a San Diego Unified School, links to register for summer programming should have been sent through the district. The link below will direct you to site managed by SD Unified's Level Up team.

 
July 24- August 18

Location: TBD

Camps run Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 8:00am-5:30pm

NOTE: This camp is 4 weeks long


Grades: 6 - 8

Content Creators (SD Unified Level Up & SD Foundation)

Be part of the critical conversations taking place today. Join a group of youth who create digital media content on a platform that shares and elevates stories by youth, with youth and for youth. Content creators is a community of youth who strive to make their voices heard through digital media. You will gain access to group mentorship, technical training, artistic development, and courses in content creation, all of which will bring your photos, videos and digital art to the next level! Students actively engage in the process of creating, submitting, posting, discussing, and displaying their work alongside other students. NOTE: This is a San Diego Unified Level Up Camp. If your student attends a San Diego Unified School, links to register for summer programming should have been sent through the district. The link below will direct you to site managed by SD Unified's Level Up team.

 
July 24- August 18

Barrio Logan College Institute
2114 National Avenue,
San Diego, California, 92113

Camps run Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 8:00am-5:30pm

NOTE: This camp is 4 weeks long


Grades: 3 - 5

Photos, Fun and Sun (SD Unified Level Up & SD Foundation)

Come join us this summer and explore the world through photography! Experience the science of photography, the art of photography, stop-motion animation, mixed media photography and more! We will create abstract imagery while exploring the world of science. Experiment with macro photography, nature photography, double exposure, and more. Then, you’ll put your new skills into practice as you explore the world around you. Learn different techniques for creating stop-motion animation. This full day program offers Visual and Media Arts learning opportunities. Learn how to capture moments and telling the story of the world around you! NOTE: This is a San Diego Unified Level Up Camp. If your student attends a San Diego Unified School, links to register for summer programming should have been sent through the district. The link below will direct you to site managed by SD Unified's Level Up team.

 

Happy Customers!

I can’t really think of any way to improve upon the program, as it seems to have been very well planned and thought through. Each individual piece of the program was well organized and detailed, and each piece transitioned perfectly to the next component and also to the bigger picture ... We all enjoyed every aspect of the program and our family loved the final exhibitions!

– Alison

I knew nothing about photography before I began with OTL, but have also learned many things that I use when taking photos in my own life ... As photographers, the students become more observant of the world around them and see things from different perspectives. They also see that photography is a tool for communicating across the globe.

– Brooke

Thank you for giving our students such wonderful photography ... they had an opportunity to express themselves openly and honestly and they were respected for their work.

– Susan
 

Outreach


Since 2001, Outside the Lens (OTL) has delivered its curriculum to 13,000 children in weekly classes, after-school programs, summer sessions, workshops and teacher trainings. Students tell their unique personal stories through photography, video, and other digital media forms while under the guidance of writers, journalists, filmmakers, photographers, artists and teachers. Our outreach programs target under-served and at-risk youth grades K-12 throughout San Diego County and uses participatory photography and video, a method in which students are given cameras and videos to document the issues that concern them. As a 501(c)3 non-profit, our curriculum reached over 5,000 people in 2013.