A weeklong camp is putting Menands and Watervliet students in the driver’s seat of their learning.
The annual science, technology, engineering and math [STEM] camp brings 24 students from Menands and Watervliet schools together to learn and have fun.
“It’s fun; it’s teaching me stuff that I can actually use,” said Umair Mohammed, a rising eighth grade student from Menands.
Hosted at Watervliet Jr.-Sr. High School, this year’s camp theme is Cars and Chemistry. Projects involve constructing a remote-controlled car, driving it, researching the chemistry and math behind cars and related topics, said teacher
Jamie Burleigh. Projects include, among other things, 3D printing of car parts, and electroplating.
“These are activities that are actually part of the industry, and it provides an avenue for the students to learn the fundamentals,” said Burleigh.
Indeed, one could state that the projects are sparking a love of science, math and engineering and are shifting the students’ knowledge of those topics into overdrive.
“It’s really fun. We get to drive remote-controlled cars and do chemistry. It’s a great experience,” said rising seventh grade student Pierre Seraphin, who aspires to a career as an engineer or a doctor.
For Arianna Buskey, the fun in science is found in being active.
“I like [the camp] because it is hands-on and we aren’t just writing things down,” she said.
Menands Principal Kathleen Wylie said the school chooses participants for the camp based on several factors, not the least of which is who would learn better in an alternative setting.
“We identify the students who would benefit the most from hands-on, interactive learning,” she said.
The Watervliet and Menands schools each send a dozen students to the STEM camp—six students from seventh and another six from eighth grade. The camp is run in partnership with Capital Region BOCES and Regeneron
Pharmaceuticals and overseen by Ten80 Education, a Schuylerville-based STEM education organization.
Menands rising eighth grade student Soleil Galloway said the camp inspired her.
“I really like the projects we do here. They are interesting, and I learn it easier,” she said, while taking part in an electroplating experiment.