MCC’s ‘College 4 Kids’ offers 34 classes – from fishing to wacky sports
Published 3:17 pm Thursday, June 5, 2025
- Students enjoy working with powdered sugar Wednesday during the first week of College 4 Kids at Meridian Community College. Photo courtesy of MCC
For more than 30 years Meridian Community College has offered local children the opportunity to engage in learning new things, all within the atmosphere of a college scene.
The 2025 “College 4 Kids” event June 2-6 and June 9-13 provides two morning classes for more than 500 registered children. Classes range from fishing to playing the guitar to learning to doing hair and nails. Another one, “Wacky Sports,” will culminate in a big “Water Day” for the participants.

More than 500 children registered for this year’s College 4 Kids at Meridian Community College, which has been offering the summer programming for more than 30 years. Photo courtesy of MCC
This was Ashlee Dean’s first time coordinating the event, which provides 34 class options, a light lunch and volunteer teachers and coaches. The children, ages 6 to 12, enjoy a camp filled with fun and educational experiences in a safe and supportive environment.
“It’s been fun for me to get to see all this hard work come together,” said Dean. “It’s been amazing. I have a background in education, so it’s wonderful to hear how respectful the children are [being] to each other.”
To fund and people the event, Dean, a former classroom teacher who also serves as MCC’s recruiting coordinator for student engagement, reached out to all her contacts in town, who stepped up to provide volunteer hours as well as necessities that went into snacks and lunches.
“It was my first time using my networking, and I’m really proud of how that all worked out,” she said. “I hope in future years they can continue to use this method, whether I’m here or not.”
One popular class that returns this year, “Cooking for Fun,” is where young chefs dive into real recipes and kitchen tools.
“You’d be surprised at how real it gets – we ordered supplies like a full restaurant,” Dean explained. “The instructors have industry connections and bring that experience for the kids.”
Other classes included pony riding, slime making and rocket blasting.
College 4 Kids also supports local teachers and assistants who use the camp as a summer job opportunity, Dean added.
Dean’s exuberance for the event is more than a two-week camp involvement. She hopes these children associate the wonderful memories they are making with each other with MCC itself.
“I just hope that they see MCC as an innovative, fun-filled campus,” Dean said. “As we grow these kids up, they’ll see MCC as their No. 1 choice.”
For more information, visit meridiancc.edu.