Camp Invention at Bird Museum sells out

Science camp begins Monday

SANDPOINT - It is unusual for Camp Invention held in small communities to sell out, but that is just what has happened here.

The science camp for elementary and middle school students has 110 campers plus another 39 on its waiting list, said camp director Rachel Riddle. She also is the director for the Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center where the camp will be held.

“We're surprised (by the turnout) given the size of Sandpoint and the community,” said Michael Schwabe, national public relations coordinator

for Camp Invention.

The camp, “Where Invention Takes Flight,” is being hosted by Drs. Forrest M. and Pam Bird at the Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center July 7-11.

People already are asking to be placed on a waiting list for next year's camp, said Pam Bird. People have asked “why Sandpoint” with response to the camp, and Bird said she asked them “Why not Sandpoint?”

Dr. Forrest Bird's involvement is a coup, said Schwabe.

“We're really excited about his participation,” he said.

Bird, a medical doctor and inventor of numerous respirators among other things, is an inductee of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, the umbrella organization for Camp Invention. The camp also is sponsored by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

This year, the Inventors Hall of Fame has changed its approach with the camp and made a strong push to have inductees also attend some of the camps, Schwabe said.

Five inventors will do so, however Bird is the only inventor to host a camp, mainly because the family's museum has enough space to accommodate so many campers.

“The stars are aligned, they might say,” Schwabe said.

This is an opportunity for Hall of Fame inductees to give back in ways they have not had the opportunity to do so, Schwabe said.

Enrollment in this camp is testament to the effort the Birds have put into exposing children to math and science through the construction and opening of the free museum, he said.

This weekend marks the first anniversary of the opening of the Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center (see the Daily Bee calendar for the museum's birthday events).

“Were excited about everything that is going on,” Schwabe said.

Camp Invention likes to work with larger groups because groups work in different ways to solve problems, Schwabe said. “That really provides a dynamic camp experience.”

Camp Invention hosts the camps at 1,015 sites across the United States, serving 65,000 students a year.

This is the first-time the national science camp has been held in Bonner County.

Pam Bird, who decorated the museum with signs that include thought-provoking quotes, said the camp's theme this year will center around the following question, “What would you do if you knew you wouldn't fail?

Camp will provide bus rides to museum

The Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center has arranged for transportation to the museum during Camp Invention.

Children will be bused from Sagle Elementary School promptly at 8:30 a.m. and return at 4 p.m. each day.

Parents should make sure their children bring with them some type of device that they can take apart for the camp, such as a toaster, fax machine or blender.

Any items with glass must have the glass removed before the child brings it with them. Anything that includes an electrical cord needs to have the cord removed.

Parents also need to make sure to send a sack lunch (Camp Invention will provide snacks), sun screen because some events will take place outside and that the camp release form is in order.