Where else can high school students learn how to blow stuff up in a supervised environment?         

Due to the popularity of last year’s one-of-a-kind camp, the University of Missouri-Rolla is hosting two sessions of Explosives Camp this summer. High school juniors and seniors from around the country will converge on Rolla June 4-9 and June 18-23 to shoot dynamite, learn about detonators and set up fireworks displays.         

“We use the entertainment value for learning, and the students love it,” says explosives expert Dr. Paul Worsey, a professor of mining engineering at UMR. “This year, we’re full. But it looks like we’ll be offering this camp as a regular feature in the future.”         

The camp sessions, which are limited to 20 students each, are open to students who are at least 17 years old and are interested in enrolling at UMR.         

UMR offers the nation’s only minor in explosives engineering.         

Campers will spend a lot of time at UMR’s Experimental Mine, where they will learn about underground blasts and mining engineering careers. They will also learn about demolition projects and, of course, safety procedures. The cost of the camp, including room, board and field trips, is $300.         

Explosives engineering at UMR has been the subject of a front-page story in St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and last year’s summer camp was the focus of a widely circulated Associated Press story. Worsey, the camp’s director, has been featured on The Learning Channel, National Geographic Television and the Discovery Channel as an explosives expert.         

For more information, email pworsey@mst.edu or call (573) 341-4753.