Monday, June 27, 2016

STEM Camps - Inventing the Future

About a dozen students from Sumter County recently completed a week-long STEM camp for girls learning about robots and electricity, "sparking" their interest in science, technology, engineering, and math. The camp was held at the Sumter Career and Technology Center and included team building and hands-on STEM activities. "The goal is to inspire young ladies to pursue STEM careers, a field which women traditionally did not pursue in the past," camp leader and mechatronics instructor Wendy Jacobs told parents on presentation day. Honda employees from the plant in Timmonsville assisted with the camp.

Students from Doby’s Mill Elementary in Kershaw County participated in a two-day STEM camp learning to engineer their own bubble wands. Instructor Amanda Raper led the students through observing standard bubbles from pre-made wands, sketching and building their own designs with pipe cleaners and straws, and testing and refining their creations. This activity teaches them the basics of engineering design -- ask, imagine, plan, create, improve – along with principles of science, all while making STEM fun.


If you would like additional information regarding STEM camps in the Santee-Lynches Region, please contact Brenda Golden, Regional Workforce Adviser at 803-651-1893.