The National Defense Education Program (NDEP) and the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, in collaboration with the STEM Education Alliance, teamed up to hold the Fifth Annual STEM Summer Academy on June 25-29, 2012. The academy invited 100 middle school students from four near by school divisions: King George, Fredericksburg, Stafford, Spotsylvania, and the Department of Defense School at Dahlgren. The STEM Academy is designed to develop teamwork, problem solving skills and increased knowledge in math and science and engineering, as well as increase career awareness in STEM related fields. Each student team was partnered with a teacher and a scientist or engineer from the Naval Surface Warfare Center. Together they competed in a tower build challenge, water rocket challenge, life science activity, human systems integration activity, and nine robotics challenges.
