Thousands of youngsters will take part in summer camps at Southeast Missouri State University this year. The camps involve everything from chemistry for kids to rock climbing, and basketball to music.

Music, cheerleading and athletic camps annually are big attractions, say university personnel involved with the camps. Each of the camps lasts a week at most.

Most of the camps are held in June and July, with some being held in early August.

Fees range from $244 for a gymnastic camp to $70 for the university's Horizons program.

The Horizons program involves youngsters ages 10 to 15. This year nearly 70 students are enrolled in the program, which begins today and runs through Friday.

"We have them coming from all over Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois," said Sheila Caskey, dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Extended Learning.

This is the sixth year for the program.

There are morning and afternoon sessions, with classes running from 9 a.m. to noon and 1-4 p.m.

Caskey said students can choose from a number of classes, including theater, chemistry for kids, anatomy, computer-aided drafting, photography and rock climbing. A student can take as many as two classes, one in the morning and another in the afternoon.

"The rock climbing is new," said Caskey. Students will use the climbing wall at the university's Student Recreation Center.

The theater class is an all-day affair for each of the five days of the program, which will culminate Friday with a theatrical performance by the students at the Cape Girardeau Public Library.

Caskey said chemistry continues to be a popular subject. "They love the slime," she said, referring to the fact that students get to make a slime-looking material in the laboratory.

Last summer an anatomy class was added. She said the class appears to be popular because it involves dissection. "They love that one because it is kind of gory."

Caskey said the program attracts "pretty good students" and participating faculty members enjoy the enthusiasm of the youngsters.

This is the 35th year for Southeast's summer music camps, which have grown to include more than 2,000 students in five one-week camps.

The music camps begin July 12 and run through Aug. 5. The music camps involve elementary, junior high and high school students. The camps include band, strings, guitar, keyboard, choral, marching and drill-team activities. June 19 is the deadline for submitting applications.

The cost is $175 for a week of camp, $50 more than last year because of increased costs. Many other music camps are much higher in cost, said Sandy Wilson, band office secretary who helps coordinate the music camps.

Music majors at Southeast help with the camps. Instructors include area band directors. "We have a band director that even comes in from Ohio," said Wilson.

Two cheerleading camps combined are expected to attract about 2,000 junior- and senior-high-school students and advisers. One is scheduled for July 28-31 and the other for Aug. 6-9. The cheerleading camps are held by the National Cheerleaders Association.

The university will hold two one-week gymnastic camps this month. The camps will be held June 15-19 and June 22-26.

In all, more than 200 participants from ages 7 to 18 are expected to participate in the camps this year, said Bill Hopkins, Southeast's gymnastics coach.

This is the sixth year for the gymnastic camps. Hopkins said the camps attract participants from as far away as Texas, St. Louis and Chicago.

The gymnastic camps are run separately from the other athletic camps at Southeast, Hopkins said.

The regular athletic camps offering baseball and basketball for boys, volleyball and basketball for girls, and tennis for both sexes annually attract between 1,200 and 1,400 participants, said Joyce Penny, director of the camps.

The cost is $200 per participant for a five-day camp, which includes meals and campus housing; $125 for a three-day athletic camp, she said.

The cost is $50 for baseball and tennis camps. Students participating in those camps are not housed overnight, explained Penny.

Basketball camps are extremely popular, with students coming from as far away as Georgia and Texas.

Many of these students have relatives in this area, said Penny. "We have a lot of children from St. Louis come down. A lot of them have just heard about our teams and want to come."

Volleyball has also become a popular attraction for sports-camp participants. "Volleyball has really taken off over the last few years," she said.

Most of the athletic camps are geared for junior- and senior-high-school students, although there are some camps for children as young as 8 years of age.

"All of our head coaches teach their own camp," said Penny. In addition to university coaches, the camps involve high school coaches.

In all, probably 50 coaches are involved in the athletic camps, she said.

Many students regularly attend the summer camps from year to year, said Penny. "Children come year after year, and bring their friends. They have a good time and they learn a lot."

The camps attract the student athletes. "It's fun, but these kids are really worked at these camps. They are run through drills and they have scrimmages.

"It's not a vacation," she said. "They are really here to learn."