Career Camping

By Melissa August, Amanda Bower, Beau Briese, Rhett Butler, Ellin Martens, Sora Song, Kadesha Thomas and Josh Tyrangiel

It used to be a time for swimming, boating and sitting around the campfire telling ghost stories. But summer camp isn't what it used to be. For today's driven kids, those summer sleepaways are increasingly being devoted to resume building, not lanyard making.

--Dutchess Community College Computer Camp, Poughkeepsie, N.Y. For third-, fourth- and fifth-graders; teaches MS Basic and graphic design for budding compujocks.

--YoungBiz Better Investing Camp, Atlanta and Washington, right. For kids 11 and older; demonstrates how to build a portfolio, research long-term investments and balance budgets. At its sister entrepreneurship camp, teens become CEOs, complete with business cards.

--Aviation Challenge, Huntsville, Ala., and Atwater, Calif. For ages 9 to 18; weeklong camps in aviation basics. Teens with the right stuff can progress to jet-fighter simulators and classes in air-combat techniques.

--Concordia Language Villages, Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn. Offers kids 7 to 18 immersion in the language and culture of one country, such as France, Norway or Korea. And if your overstressed kid wants to coast, try the culti-camp set in "Hometown U.S.A."