Butler receives nearly $1M grant to create ‘Butler BOOST’ youth camps

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Butler University will use $908,000 in grant money to create Butler BOOST, a youth camp program the university says will get kids ready for college and their futures.

Aaron Hurt, Butler’s vice president of arts, events, and enterprise management, said the Lilly Endowment awarded them with the grant.

“The camps will have a focus on technology career paths,” Hurt explained.

So far, the camps announced are Explorer Camp, Catapult Camp, and Residential Camp.

Explorer Camp will include subjects like pharmacy, sports, journalism, and web design.

Catapult Camp is for students in Marion County and the Evansville area.

Residential Camp will target upcoming freshmen.

“Part of this grant is that we are going to hire a director of camps to be the person who really lives, breathes, and sleeps camps all year round. They’ll be the go-to stop for, ‘Hey I’m a professor here at Butler’s campus and I want to start a camp in my specialty.’ You’re going to talk to this camp director and they’re going to help you figure out how to make that happen and make it work within this new framework,” Hurt said.

Butler expects it will take about three years to get the camps up and running.

All camps will be tuition-based and scholarships and financial aid will be available.