Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics summer camps at South Texas College have officially begun and recently kicked off with a Region One GEAR UP LEGO robotics camp at the college’s Technology campus.
The three-day camp, which also included a tour of the campus, hosted Region One’s GEAR UP 8th grade cohort of students from Donna ISD, Sharyland ISD and Valley View ISD who built computerized LEGO models and piloted them with coding programs.
“This is the official start of the summer camp season,” said Carlos Martinez, training specialist with STC’s Institute for Advanced Manufacturing and a coordinator of the college’s summer camps. “Our students today are being introduced to basic robotics…and we are trying to develop among the students at an early age, the importance of technical careers, and through these camps and training opportunities at STC we are making our presence known to industry and preparing the future workforce.”
Summer Camps Focus On STEM Prep
IAM will host over 40 camps this summer, 12 of which are open to the public. It will also host more than 500 local and international students from May until August, according to Martinez.
Public camps through IAM will include the Lego Mindstorm EV3 Robotics courses as well as the Drones Piloting Fundamentals camps. Camps will take place at three STC campuses – Technology, Mid-Valley and Starr County throughout the month of June.
STC will also hold sessions for international students in Lego robotics and Drones Piloting. These will begin in late July and early August.
“We have to think outside the box and keep on fostering interest among students,” Martinez said. “As is the case with our GEAR UP students here, our focus on preparation has to start early at the high school and middle school levels and get them excited for these careers.”
At the event with Region One, the camp introduced students to STEM concepts while also encouraging them to pursue STEM education in high school and college through basic knowledge of computer coding.
Currently, the Region One Educational Service Center Office of College, Career and Life Readiness operates three GEAR UP projects: GEAR UP: College Now-Career Connected!, GEAR UP: College Ready, Career Set! and GEAR UP: Pathways to the Future!
Meeting National Needs Locally
The GEAR UP: Pathways to the Future! cohort consists of over 5,000 8th grade students from 13 Region One school systems: Edcouch-Elsa ISD, Edinburg CISD, Harlingen CISD, Hidalgo ISD, La Villa ISD, Progreso ISD, Laredo ISD, Monte Alto ISD, PSJA ISD, Raymondville ISD, United ISD and Weslaco ISD.
“We are exposing students to basic, foundation-level skills in coding and STEM,” said Amanda Cardoza, content specialist with Region One’s Pathways grant. “These are skills that we can build on so ultimately, they enter higher-level robotics. This is how we introduce them to STEM and STEM fields, and STC especially has helped us open up a variety of opportunities that we wouldn’t have on our own through access to their campuses, instructors and technology; everything it has. The door is open for us to provide these kids with awesome opportunities.”
STC faculty say STEM is the future and will play a vital role for the region in order to meet the demands for companies that are considering the region to support their operations.
“Organizations and companies have already decided that if they are setting up in the United States, they are going to have to have a competitive edge, with a sophisticated level of automation in robotics,” said Felix Zamarripa, training specialist with IAM who offered a tour of college facilities to students. “Students need to have the basic skills with STEM so they can be prepared, and the younger we can prepare our students, the more we are going to be prepared as a country or as a region to meet the demands for these companies.”