In the midst of school closures, the Liberty Hill STEM Team began thinking outside of the box to provide an amazing, high quality summer camp experience for students attending the Liberty Hill schools. This required seeing things through the lens of COVID-19 and its impact on students, staff, families and the entire community. Our three week summer program was comprised of engaging at-home STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) activities, weekly challenges, and virtual options packaged nicely in take-home boxes for parents to pick up (curbside) at the beginning of each week.  Campers gained hands-on experience designing airplanes, robots, and cars powered by alternative energy sources.

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We are grateful to our local industry partners, who made it possible to offer weekly Zoom sessions focused on specific themes. These included “Aero Action”- an Aerospace session sponsored by Boeing; “Power Up”, focusing on kinetic vs potential Energy, through Mercedes; “Fun in the Sun”- exploring solar energy through Cummins; and “Stage Stars”, developing communication, presentation, and leadership skills – via Toastmasters. Our Zoom sessions with industry professionals gave students an opportunity to learn about the wealth of career opportunities available to them. As a result they came to recognize how the skills they were learning in the classroom will one day be essential in the workplace.

Kudos to our parents and campers! Parents made sure the campers showed up for zoom sessions, and campers rose to every challenge, making it an amazing experience. A BIG Shout-Out to; Damaya Hamilton (Wydenia Hamilton), Zyahire Montgomery (Krystal Edwards), Chauncey Gibson (Dana Gibson), Jynesis Johnson, Noah Brown (Carolyn Morrison), David McManigal (Amanda McManigal), Daquan Brunson (Samantha Thomas), Skylah McCoy (Tiffany McCoy), Zoe and Jack Haithcock (Zulietha Haithcock), and Matthew Middleton (Jamie Salley). You guys were STEMtastic! The familiar African proverb sums it up best, “It takes a village.”

To the entire village (industry partners, volunteers, campers, parents, and the Liberty Hill STEM team)… Thanks for making STEM-In-A-Box an absolute success!