A four-day STEM Summer Academy was held at Brandon Middle School School on July 27-30, 2015. This action-packed event was sponsored by the Department of Defense Education Activity and developed by the College of William and Mary’s STEM Education Alliance in conjunction with the PRIDE team. The academy hosted 25 middle school students from both Larkspur Middle School and Brandon Middle School. On July 28th, parents and school division representatives were invited to attend VIP Day. On this day, guests were able to tour the academy to view the exciting activities, ask questions to the students, and receive STEM-related materials about careers.
The PRIDE STEM Summer Academy was designed to help students develop their problem-solving skills and ability to work in a team while using mathematics and science to solve challenges. Student teams competed in the Tower Build Challenge, the Water Rocket Challenge, the M&M Statistics Challenge, and the Electronics Challenge. Through these hands-on activities, students explored physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, and mathematics in an engaging, high-energy environment. Students also had an opportunity to explore career opportunities in STEM-related fields. One of the many highlights during this camp, one of the junior mentors created a 3D printed, circuit enclosure for the Simon Tilts kit produced by Sparkfun Electronics. (See photo above)
