Use Your Noodle, a four-week creative and educational enrichment camp, returns this summer to Avondale Samaritan Place. This program is the brainchild of two Birmingham area professors, who are also both BSC alumnae: Dr. Amelia Spencer ’85, professor of education on the Hilltop, and Dr. Cora Causey ’90, professor of education at UAB.

The camp is open to students from any of the six area elementary schools who are headed into first, second, third, and fourth grades. Along with Birmingham-based elementary school teachers, Spencer and Causey focus “on literacy, math, and science” to mold young minds into passionate, lifelong learners.

“This enriching experience was designed to empower children from underserved schools by nurturing their passion for learning through asking questions and solving problems using literacy, numeracy, and play,” says Spencer and Causey.

Throughout the camp, students are encouraged to be inquisitive about the material presented to them. “What we wanted to do here was allow the students to participate in their own learning, ask questions, explore things,” Dr. Spencer says. “What we hope is that the children will leave here and have the ability…to be curious.”

Dr. Amelia Spencer and Dr. Cora Causey

Last summer, Spencer and Causey studied the effects of the Question Formulation Technique on the quantity and quality of student-asked questions, collecting data at Use Your Noodle. They presented on the topic at the National Association for the Education of Young Children Annual Conference in Nashville last fall. Overall, they found that their methods led to “more questions and higher order questions,” and that “questioning became part of the culture.”

This year, Use Your Noodle will be held June 17-28 and July 8-19. Spencer and Causey are planning to grow the program from 40 to 75 kids. You can support a student for the 2024 session by giving here. Find more information about Use Your Noodle here.