STEAM Camp Promotes Learning Year-Round

This past summer, dozens of youth ranging from ages 5 to 12 years old, had the opportunity to participate in our education-based STEAM Camp that’s offered as part of our Rising STARS program. In just 6 weeks, they are involved in activities and field trips that are aimed to prepare them for a successful school year come fall. These activities include:

Acts of Kindness

This was a NEW addition to the curriculum this summer. Every Tuesday and Thursday, campers prepared snack bags for 160+ patients at DaVita Kidney Care located on St. Charles Way in York. They packaged an entire week’s worth of apple juices, waters, cookies, and more. “I am blessed because of the availability of nutritious snacks,” said Dialysis patient Tiny.  “The patients just love it,” added Charter School CEO Jacquie Martino-Miller, whose own son frequents dialysis treatments at this center. In addition to delivering weekly snacks, they delivered handmade pillows with bear applique designs for patients to rest their arms on during dialysis procedures.

STEAM Activities

From visiting the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts in Harrisburg, to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, students gained hands-on experience with Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) while exploring areas outside of York. At the Whitaker Center, campers were excited to watch a documentary about the forces of nature on a huge IMAX screen. They also had the option to experience an F5 tornado booth demonstration, and learn about pulleys and levers.  “The Franklin Institute was great,” said Rising STARS Director Phil Drayden. “They had hourly science show exhibitions called Dream Big about making a bridge in South America for transporting students.”

The campers also participated in weekly mobile stem labs where they designed robots and learned coding principles, courtesy of Girl Scouts of America. On Tuesdays, Ray Ames, Founder of Young Thinkers of York, taught the youth about robotics and coding with numerous demonstrations.

Fitness Activities

To keep the youth active and burning energy regularly, they took part in tennis lessons with renowned tennis professional Mark Koons at the Country Club of York.  After each lesson, they cooled off with swimming lessons at the outdoor pool.

Confidence Building

Also NEW this year, Phil included confidence-building activities into the curriculum. He created a “talent search show,” which incorporated humor to help reduce the typical nervousness youth experience while performing in front of an audience. While onstage, each participant was asked to make a superman pose. These “power poses” were used to improve their confidence. The poses helped them discover their inner strengths and masked fear so they could confidently perform in front of their peers.

After all of the training, STEAM learning, and field trips this past summer, our campers were nothing short of prepared for the 2019-2020 school year. Next summer’s Rising STARS Camp curriculum is going to be tough to beat!

Story by SCSEP Participant Jeanine Richardson.