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Seven elementary students from across Polk County combined scientific exploration with artistic expression during a week-long Creative Cultivators Camp this summer.

The camp, part of the AIG Summer Seminars series, challenged participants to apply the scientific method through hands-on activities, encouraging students to pose questions, form hypotheses, make observations and gather data while engaging in creative projects.

Activities ranged from traditional gardening to unconventional art techniques. Students planted seeds, designed garden-themed collages and experimented with vegetable painting. The program also included clay sculpting, oil pastel painting and food preparation activities such as baking cookies and cupcakes.

In one of the camp’s signature projects, participants built solar ovens and used them to roast s’mores, combining engineering principles with culinary rewards.

Ginger Rackley, a fifth-grade teacher at Saluda Elementary School, led the program. The camp drew students from various elementary schools throughout the district.

The Creative Cultivators Camp was funded through a grant from the Polk County Community Foundation. The week-long program aimed to foster both scientific thinking and artistic creativity among young learners.