Dr. Shirley Disseler, HPU’s STEM Camp coordinator leads the camp in a countdown to launch their rockets.
HIGH POINT, N.C., June 25, 2021 – High Point University’s Annual STEM Camp ended with a blast today. The camp wrapped up with a rocket launch featuring rockets designed by local children throughout the past week.
Thanks to the camp, more than 100 kids became scientists for a week and developed a new appreciation for all things STEM – science, technology, engineering and math. The culminating rocket launch drummed up much enthusiasm from children, along with a “Mad Scientist” presentation held today.
“I’m excited because I want to see the rocket go all the way up in there, and I’m curious of how high it’s going to go up in the air,” says 9-year-old Amirah Serraneu before her rocket took to the sky. “I think it’s going to go up to 99 feet.”
HPU graduate students from the Stout School of Education designed the activities for the week, guiding children from The Point Prep and Leadership Academy.
“I like STEM Camp because I can learn new things and make stuff,” says 10-year-old Ava McCampbell. “I like building stuff and coding for robots. It’s also really cool working with HPU students.”
The theme this year was “Building STEM Leaders for Tomorrow’s Workforce.” Activities included designing a solar oven to cook s’mores in, exploring robotics, creating airplane launchers and using STEM skills to build their own rocket.
HPU’s Annual STEM camp has been happening for seven years now. While usually held on HPU’s campus, this year the camp ventured to The Point Prep and Leadership Academy. All the children at the school were sponsored by the Congdon Family Foundation.
“The partnership is definitely to get our kids active in the community to have that hands-on involvement that they need, but also to develop those STEM skills that are perfect for them to take over into their adulthood,” says Courtney Ingram, a science teacher at The Point Prep and Leadership Academy.
More than 100 children from the school between kindergarten and sixth grade participated in this year’s camp.
“It’s a lot of fun to see the kids’ faces and watch them interact with the science materials and engineering design materials,” says Dr. Shirley Disseler, associate professor in HPU’s Stout School of Education and STEM coordinator. “We’ve got some kids this is their seventh year coming back to camp, so they started as kindergartners and now they’re on their way out to graduate [the camp].”