“It is an opportunity to learn about technology and how it applies to specific career fields,” said Charles Brads, Miami Valley Career Technology Center academic supervisor.
More than 70 students participated in the program this summer. Parents pay a $50 fee to have their children enrolled.
Most of the instruction is hands-on. Students, for example, use labs to design their own graphics and learn about sports medicine while using some of the same equipment professionals use.
“They’re extracting DNA from their cheek cells or from fruit to examine it,” Brads said. “We want our students to be able to look at something and understand why it works, or why it does not work.”
The STEM camp instructors are comprised mostly of school staff who have experience in the industries they are teaching.
High school students who went through the program also return each year to help teach and run activities. Tiffany Westfall, 17, said she helped out this year because she wants other kids to have the same experiences she had.
“I want them to be able to run home excited and tell their parents about all of the fun things they are learning,” Westfall said. “I want them to see things that have never seen before.”
The school invests approximately $15,000 each year for the summer STEM camp.
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