Box information: An estimated 13,000 elementary, middle school and high school students will attend one of the camps and clinics hosted by the University of Oklahoma this summer. The camps range from the traditional outdoor sports related opportunities to classroom and laboratory based science and technology offerings. Information on several camps and clinics can be found at the following sites:

Soonersports.com has a complete list of its sports camps and clinics under its Sooner Fans tab.

OU University Outreach will have several summer academies during the break. Information can be found at http://youth.ou.edu/summer_academies.html.

Students interested in aviation could earn their wings at Sooner Flight Academy. Contact Lauren Mitchell, director, at lmitchell //flightcamp.ou.edu.

The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History has a variety of options available in its Summer Explorers 2007 program. Information can be found at http://www.snomnh.ou.edu/education/SummerExplorers2007.htm.

The fourth annual Summer Journalism Workshop of the Oklahoma Institute for Diversity in Journalism will provide high school juniors and seniors an opportunity to experience life as a journalist. For more information, call Ray Ch?vez at 325-4143.

By Tony Pennington

Transcript Staff Writer

Bernard A. Harris has earned his place in history.

The onetime NASA astronaut, physician and businessman was the first African-American to perform a space walk. It was a long journey from his "modest" Texas childhood home to the stars. It's a path Harris, 51, hopes today's youth will not only duplicate, but vastly improve upon.

Harris, in conjunction with the ExxonMobil Foundation, will offer 20 two-week free residential camps this summer for disadvantaged middle schools students at 19 university campus locations across the country. The 2007 ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camps are designed to encourage leadership and citizenship skills through innovative science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs.

More than 1,000 students are expected to be served by the camps this summer. Students must be academically qualified and recommended by their teachers. The summer program also traditionally strives to include underrepresented populations and introduce them to the diverse opportunities in fields of math and science.

"I came from a modest home, probably from a similar situation as some of the students," Harris said. "What I want to provide is hope, hope to follow their dreams. We want them to leave camp with the tools necessary to excel."

The University of Oklahoma was selected for a camp and will begin boarding students Sunday. Other sites include Southwest Oklahoma State University, Weatherford; Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.; University of Southern California, Los Angeles; and New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, N.J.