From pasta to plastic rockets, Sage Hill School summer day camp teaches kids a stack of skills

Jack Pheasant mixed flour, water and egg yolk with his hands until he could form a sticky ball of dough.

After a once-over by executive chef Laura Catala of Sage Hill Cafe, the 12-year-old from Fountain Valley rolled the dough flat before feeding it through a pasta maker.

Jack was one of 62 middle-school students who learned how to make linguini and bowtie pasta last week at Camp Sage. Instead of handing campers a pre-made lunch every day, the dining staff of Sage Hill School in Newport Coast led an interactive teaching kitchen.

“My dad has always been trying to have me cook steak and stuff, but this is my first time cooking something by myself,” Jack said.

Sage Hill School hosted its first summer day camp over the past few weeks. On Friday, campers were sent home with an apron, protective mesh gloves and index cards with the recipes they learned to cook.

Camp director Lynette Swanson, who also is the Sage Hill registrar and girls’ soccer coach, said she created the cooking lessons to give students useful skills while making friends.

“They’re at the age now where they can prepare their own food and have a little more independence in that area,” Swanson said.

Campers chose from a diverse calendar of activities, including Model United Nations, public speaking, lacrosse, acting, musical theater, tennis and computer coding.

In a class called “How to Do Stuff,” campers learned survival skills such as how to start a fire. On another day, they learned how to safely use saws and drills to build a wooden race car.

Sage Hill chemistry teacher Kerry Langdale taught “Mad Science,” one of the more popular classes. Campers built colorful rockets from 2-liter plastic soda bottles, cardboard and duct tape.

For bragging rights and candy, the campers tested different amounts of water and compressed air to see how high they could launch their rockets. Some reached a height of 109 feet, according to the altimeters students taped to the projectiles.

While cutting up a fresh pineapple to make dessert empanadas, Samantha Kaufman, 13, of Newport Beach said she joined Camp Sage’s public speaking class to become a better member of her student government.

“You never get bored because there is so much to do here,” she said.

Daniel Langhorne is a contributor to Times Community News.