While summer means weeks of leisure for their peers, to Zach and Sophie Galant, 19 and 17, a break from school is no time for idle hands and minds.

Between them, the brother-sister duo have created three summer camps for local children housed in their parents' home, an enterprise kicked off by Zach as an eighth-grade student at Greenhill School. Tera Byte, a video-game creation and filmmaking camp, was his brainchild after attending a similar camp in Los Angeles.

Sophie soon followed with two camps for girls: the for-profit Creative Arts Camp, which teaches visual and performing arts and literacy; and the nonprofit Kids Teach Kids, the funds for which are gathered from a portion of money raised in its sister endeavor.  

For Zach, now a student at Stanford, teaching others was a natural inclination. He decided he would use his skills to teach others how to produce video games and films by introducing students to Java language and programs such as Multimedia Fusion 2 and Final Cut.  

"I just thought, 'You know what? I can teach this, why not?'" Zach said. "I found myself helping other kids while I was at camp that were a little behind me, so I started off and thought I could do some private tutoring, but then I realized that summer camp would be the best way to get to the most students in the same amount of time."  

Zach rented a computer lab from Greenhill, later moving into the Galants' garage as over a dozen computers were purchased from Tera Byte's profits to accommodate the steadily growing number of campers.   

With the logistics and curriculum in place, it wasn't hard to pique the interest of local children.  

"The second you teach them the first thing, they already have this fully drawn-out, storyboarded idea in their minds, as if they've been dreaming about it or thinking about making their own video games forever," Zach said. "They're just ready to let it come out."  

The following year, Sophie followed suit with her own idea, centered around her love of art. Campers read, sing, dance, paint and perform, with language immersion in French, Spanish and Chinese offered in Creative Arts Camp. The Galant siblings speak all three languages.  

"I just really enjoy teaching and I love kids," Sophie said. "I thought teaching them art and literature and all sort of things in a fun, more relaxed way would be a really great experience."  

A second camp came out of a desire to engage kids from various socio-economic backgrounds. Sophie has partnered with Heart House and Girls Inc., hiring a bus to bring campers from a center near their home to the camp in North Dallas. To supplement fundraising efforts, she hosts bake sales, luncheons and recently, an art show, to bankroll Kids Teach Kids.  

"After I ran my Creative Arts Camp for two summers, I realized not everyone could pay for it," Sophie said. "So I wanted to open up a camp for underprivileged kids and I could offer it for free."  

Students are taught in a style similar to what the Galants learned participating in Destination Imagination; campers are guided to foster resourcefulness and ingenuity. Greenhill alumni, students and other young people staff the camps. Zach has started a training program for campers who are aspiring counselors and Sophie hopes to begin other chapters of Kids Teach Kids alongside raising money for a literacy project, Believe in Books.  

It's a legacy of leadership and individuality that the brother and sister -- who have received numerous honors, with Zach winning the 2007 Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award from Young Entrepreneurs of America -- are more than happy  to pass on.  

"Providing an activity or program to a child that wouldn't necessarily have that opportunity is really gratifying," Sophie said. "I was really shaped by my counselors when I was young, and I hope I can do the same for my campers." 

MORE INFO

For more information on Tera Byte Camp, visit http://terabyte.nfshost.com/ or email zach@terabytegames.com. 

For more information on Creative Arts Camp and Kids Teach Kids, visit http://creativeartscamp.schools.officelive.com/default.aspx and http://kidsteachkids.org or email galants@greenhill.org.