DENTON (UNT), Texas ­— With a mission to provide premier educational programs for children, the Elm Fork Education Center is celebrating 25 years of its work at the University of North Texas.

The center, located in the Environmental Education, Science & Technology Building, was founded in 1998 by the late Professor Emeritus Kenneth Dickson ('66, '68 M.S.), who taught biology in the College of Science.

“This center was his dream,” said Elm Fork Education Center Program Director Brian Wheeler ('97). “He wanted to reach back to the youngest age group possible, children going into kindergarten, and keep them interested in science as long as possible.”

When it opened, the center originally offered a field trip program for children in kindergarten through fifth grade. Wheeler says from 12,000 to 15,000 children visit UNT through the program annually.

“It’s great exposure for the university,” said Wheeler. “People who are just moving to areas like Frisco and Plano don’t realize we’re out here yet.”

The program serves children from a roughly 35-mile radius around campus. For example, Wheeler says the center will welcome every third grader from the Lewisville ISD and almost every fourth grader from Frisco ISD.

The summer camp program began thanks to the field trips’ popularity.

“After our first year, parents told us their kids really liked a certain lesson, like aquatic insects or archeology, and started asking if we could do more,” Wheeler said. “We were hesitant at first since we just opened, but after our second year, we said ‘OK, let’s do summer camps.’”

Aiden Hawley is a camp instructor and works with the field trip program. She remembers her first forensics camp when she was a camper.

“One of the counselors that year taught about the stages at which different bugs will be drawn to a body, and we didn’t even know that was a thing,” Hawley said. “I will always remember that because it was so cool and exciting.”

Hawley, now a 20-year-old anthropology major at UNT, started going to the camps when she entered middle school. When she aged out, she became a junior counselor and then an instructor. She says she wanted to give other kids that “wow” moment.

“It makes the kids excited to learn, and they retain that information. They go home to their parents, and they’re naming different body parts or sharing how water is filtered,” Hawley said.

Wheeler says it’s common for campers to become junior counselors and then instructors like Hawley.

“The best part of my job by far is having those kids who we connect with for long periods of time and watch them grow and find their own voice.”

The camp also helps prepare junior counselors for the working world. While the work counts as civic service hours for junior counselors, they still fill out an application and go through an interview. They also can use employees at the center as references when applying for jobs.

There’s an added benefit for parents too: the hours.

“Unlike a lot of camps in the area, we run all day. A lot of faculty and staff sign their kids up for our camps, so it makes sense to have our hours work with them,” Wheeler said.

The camp opens at 7:30 a.m. and ends at 6 p.m. giving parents enough time to drop off and pick up their children without missing work. Parents can pick up their children around noon if they wish.

The center currently runs four camps per week for five weeks in the summer. Each camp can take 20 kids. When asked about expanding, Wheeler says it’s possible.

“If we run three summers in a row at max capacity, then maybe we’ll add more. We’re at two summers now, so next summer we’ll see.”