BECKLEY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – West Virginia University Institute of Technology has received a Health Sciences and Technology Academy (HSTA) grant for the third consecutive year to host STEM camps for 10th-grade students.
HSTA is a nationally recognized West Virginia program that serves underrepresented high school students and encourages them to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and health care.
The grant provides training for HSTA teachers and allows students to attend the camp at WVU Tech free of charge.
“One special thing about this camp over other camps is that it’s a two-week project. HSTA-sponsored teachers who come to this camp will help run the activities. The first week is just for teachers,” said Nathan Galinsky, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and Director of STEM camps at WVU Tech.
Following the teacher training, students will attend an overnight STEM camp on the Beckley campus, where they will experience college life while participating in hands-on learning in nursing, engineering, chemistry and biology. Camp participants also will take part in off-campus activities and stay in the residence halls.
“These are students that don’t have a lot of these opportunities. Many of the students we get, this is their first time being away from home,” Galinsky said. “This gives them the college experience.”
“This camp is a different experience for me personally, just because of the idea that the students come from different backgrounds than the other camps. For example, Camp STEM, everyone has some kind of interest in STEM. You get students that are interested in STEM but it’s usually the medicine aspect of it, not the engineering part, so they don’t have the experience or interactions with the other parts of STEM. Everyone can imagine what a doctor does, but it’s a bit harder to imagine what an engineer or biologist does in their day to day lives. It gives them an opportunity to see what they like and prefer, plus a small campus experience.”
Teacher training is scheduled for July 13-15, while the student camp will take place July 19-24.
More information about camps at WVU Tech is available at wvutech.edu/camps.
