Above: Nicole Whitson dances with her students Wednesday during class at the Holy Trinity Lutheran School Summer Camp. Below: Toddlers color turtles. Bottom: Children pledge allegiance to the Bible, the Christian flag and the American flag every morning.

Every day when children enter the Holy Trinity Lutheran School Summer Camp, they will be welcomed by a beach and ocean summer theme with each week featuring different educational activities and biblical stories centered on aquatic life.

The nine-week camp is available for children 2 to 4 years old and those entering kindergarten through third grade. Parents can register their children on a weekly basis, and students may begin attending the Monday after registration.

“Different weeks, we’ll have different themes, but we always try to keep that education in there as well with our faith-based values and try to have a Bible verse with every week,” said Lauren Montelli, summer camp director.

The school started the summer camp as a promotional device in an effort to boost school enrollment, but officials quickly realized that the camp was also helping families that needed summer child care.

“We do service a lot of our school families, but almost half of our kids I would think are just community kids that need child care during the summer,” Holy Trinity Principal Bill Hiskey said. “We find that we are doing a service to our neighbors.”

Montelli said a great thing about the summer camp is that it’s a branch of the church and the school and it’s like a sneak preview of the educational opportunities, values and other possibilities the school offers. She said they have a lot of students who return to sign up for the school year because parents had seen the experience and the great environment that was provided for their children during the summer.

The camp also collaborates with the church during vacation Bible school week, with this year’s theme being Cave Quest from 9 a.m. to noon June 13-17 for preschool through sixth-graders. The VBS is free to the community.

The camp has 65 children enrolled, but that number could increase with Warren County Public Schools letting out for the summer this week. Each age group has its own staff and group name that relates to the summer camp ocean theme. The kindergarten through third-graders are called the Sharks, and Western Kentucky University senior Nicole Whitson of Bowling Green teaches the class.

This week’s theme is God created the oceans and the seas, so the children are doing an activity with blue Play-Doh pressed it into a plastic container. They then added different plastic aquarium toys such as trees, rocks, coral and filled the container with water to create their own sea.

Whitson heard about the summer camp through a friend, and she felt it was a great opportunity to get experience in what she wants to do with her movement studies degree. This is her second year working at the camp.

“This is kind of what I want to do for a living and work with the kids. So I was like, ‘yes,’ I’ll try it out and see if I like it and it was a summer job,” Whitson said.

The Sea Turtle group includes 3- and 4-year-olds, and 3-year-old Peyton Squire was having a great time coloring her picture of a sea turtle.

“I’m making lip gloss and she’s got eyeshadow and I’m going to give her ears and hair and earrings,” Peyton said.

WKU elementary education senior Kali Rigsby of Scottsville teaches the Sea Turtle class. She enjoys teaching and leaving a positive impression on the children.

“It’s just a fun age to work with them at. They’re very impressionable, they’re fun, you never know what’s going to happen next, they keep you on your toes,” Rigsby said. “It’s fun to give them they’re first summer camp experience.”

The registration fee for the summer camp is $25 per child. Parents can register their children half a day (7:30 a.m. to noon) or full day (7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.) Prices for the camp can start as low as $40 for two half days to $140 for five full days.

— For more information, visit www.htlsbg.com or call 270-843-1001.

— Follow faith/general assignments reporter Simone C. Payne on Twitter @SimonePayne or visit bgdailynews.com.