BOONE, N.C. — From chopping ingredients for a homemade Italian dinner to chopping words into syllables, the 10 campers who attended Appalachian State University’s second annual Camp Jean Rankin: Empowering Kids Who Stutter honed their speech skills in an interactive and fun environment.
The weeklong residential camp took place July 21–26 on the Boone campus, offering youth ages 11 to 16 intensive individual and group therapy provided by App State speech-language pathology graduate students and licensed speech-language pathologists. In addition to speech therapy, campers participated in a variety of activities on campus and in the surrounding community, such as swimming at the Town of Blowing Rock Robbins Pool.
“We had an amazing group of campers who met peers who stutter and were accepted for who they are,” said Camp Jean Rankin Director Dr. Holly Hanley, a clinical associate professor of speech-language pathology in App State’s Department of Rehabilitation Sciences. “Although we want campers to practice the speech strategies they learned, the real purpose of camp is reminding them that stuttering does not define who they are.”
2024 Camp Jean Rankin campers listen to a talk from App State football coach speak Mark Speir during their tour of App State’s workout facility at Kidd Brewer Stadium. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Approximately 5% to 10% of children stutter during their childhood — though most outgrow the condition. However, for about 1% of the population, the communication disorder persists, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.
With support from App State alumnus Ed Rankin ’70 and his wife, Thuy Le, Camp Jean Rankin was established in 2023 as North Carolina’s only residential and intensive summer camp of its kind. In 2024, the camp size was expanded by 20% to serve additional campers, with families traveling from the Southeast and Midwest, including North Carolina, Texas, Illinois, Indiana and Florida.
During the week, campers participated in activities that included:
- Calling plays at Kidd Brewer Stadium while App State football players Shawn Collins, Jordan Favors, Thornton Gentry, Mitchell Lake and Kaedin Robinson ran different routes on the stadium field.
- Learning about the App State football program with coach Mark Speir and head coach Shawn Clark. Campers also got a behind-the-scenes tour of the football team’s locker room and workout facilities.
- Participating in music therapy at the Hayes School of Music with music therapy graduate student Catie Yodis ’23.
- Meeting adoptable animals at the Watauga County Humane Society and seeing horses and other animals at the Circle G Farm with Tammy Gragg, a speech-language pathologist for Watauga County Schools.
- Chopping, measuring and cooking a homemade Italian dinner at the Foscoe Grandfather Community Center with volunteers Frank Agate and Sue Krupa.
Oliver, a returning Camp Jean Rankin camper from Illinois, calls plays on the Kidd Brewer Stadium sidelines for App State defensive end Shawn Collins. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Campers said during the camp they learned a lot about themselves and became more comfortable with their fluency skills.
Louis, a camper from North Carolina, said he was excited to attend camp “to meet someone else who stuttered” and that he felt more comfortable with his stutter by the end of the week.
Oliver, a returning camper from Illinois, said he “learned how to turn negative emotions into positive ones.”
Nick, a first-time camper from Texas, said that when he spent time with the App State football team and its coaches, the players talked about how practice helps you improve. “They told us that every practice isn’t going to be easy. However, it’s like taking an ice pick to slowly chip away — doing the work so that you get the result that you want.”
During the closing ceremony, held July 26 in the Lewis Atrium of the Levine Hall of Health Sciences, campers shared slides showing their favorite camp memories, what they learned about their stuttering and suggestions for next year’s camp. With the support of their speech-language pathology therapy team, each camper delivered their presentation to an audience of about 80 people, which included Rankin and Le, as well as university representatives and families and friends.
“Being a teenager can be difficult no matter what, but if you stutter, it can be even more difficult,” said Hanley. “The campers demonstrated such bravery, putting themselves out there and giving their all to every activity and therapy session. They stuttered freely knowing that they would not be judged or rushed.”
Lily, second from right, a Camp Jean Rankin camper from Florida, and her speech-language pathologist and App State graduate student Isabelle Cole ’23, right, call plays on the Kidd Brewer Stadium sidelines for App State football player Kaedin Robinson, left. Photo by Chase Reynolds
The campers weren’t the only ones impacted.
“As a speech-language pathologist, this experience is one of the things you hope for in your professional career,” said Tanya Priest, a clinician for more than 20 years who currently works in Watauga County Schools. “This week has filled my cup. We have laughed and cried and we’ve been vulnerable and learned a lot from each other.”
Emily Cornell ’20, a speech-language pathology graduate student, added, “Working with kids and teens at Camp Jean Rankin was incredibly rewarding and allowed me to understand their challenges and admire their resilience. I learned just as much, if not more, than the campers did.”
For more information on Camp Jean Rankin and to apply for the 2025 camp, visit https://cdclinic.appstate.edu/programs/summer-stuttering-camp.
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About Camp Jean Rankin
Camp Jean Rankin: Empowering Children and Youth Who Stutter is a residential, weeklong summer camp held at Appalachian State University for kids ages 11 to 16. Speech-language pathology (SLP) faculty, staff and students plan and host the camp, working alongside community SLPs to provide individual and group therapy for stuttering. The camp is named for Jean Rankin, mother of camp donor Ed Rankin ’70, who along with his wife, Thuy Le, sponsored the camp.
About the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences
Appalachian State University’s Department of Rehabilitation Sciences (RHS) — an interdisciplinary unit in the Beaver College of Health Sciences — prepares future leaders through transformative education, collaborative research and community engagement. The department, which launched July 1, 2022, houses several established programs, including an undergraduate program and a minor in communication sciences and disorders, a minor in American Sign Language and graduate programs in athletic training and speech-language pathology. Beginning in fall 2024, the RHS department will house App State’s new Master of Science in occupational therapy program; applications for the program’s first cohort will open in fall 2023. Learn more at https://rhs.appstate.edu.
About Appalachian State University
As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, affordable education for all. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.
