Forty high school students from Lee and Collier counties are honing their math skills and learning about career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) during the FGCU/NAACP STEM Summer Camp through July 3.
In its second year, the 12-day residential program also introduces sophomores, juniors and seniors from underrepresented communities to college preparation, campus life and FGCU academic programs.
The camp involves four hours of applied math exercises nearly every morning, followed by afternoon activities in diverse topics: environmental, software and civil engineering; biotechnology and bioengineering; robotics and forensic studies.
One afternoon, teams of students rotated through eight lab stations in Merwin Hall where they gained hands-on experience performing forensic work, such as fingerprint identification, blood-spatter analysis, bone measuring and crime scene documentation. Fake blood and plaster-cast skulls were used, but one unit involved examining human bones donated for scientific study.
“It’s rare to be able to handle real bones,” said workshop leader Serrin Boys, an FGCU graduate student in forensic studies. “Not many students get this opportunity in high school.”
Participants are taking field trips to the local biofuel company Algenol and FGCU’s Vester Marine and Environmental Science Research Field Station and enjoying a VIP behind-the-scenes tour of Kennedy Space Center. Along the way, they’re meeting with professionals working in STEM-related fields, which are projected to lead U.S. job growth well into the next decade. STEM education is a high priority at FGCU and on a national level.
“There’s a big need to produce STEM majors, and there’s a lack of underrepresented groups,” said Claude Villiers, an associate professor who teaches civil engineering and is part of the camp faculty. “That’s part of the mission of FGCU, as well as the NAACP – to fill that gap.”
More than 80 students applied for the free program, but only 40 could be accepted. All had GPAs higher than 3.8, Villiers said.
The camp began in 2014 as a collaboration between FGCU and NAACP Collier County, according to J. Webb Horton, assistant director of Community Outreach, the FGCU office that coordinates the program. “Kids who went through the camp told us it impacted how they function, especially in regards to math,” Horton said.
Thirty-five percent who took the SAT exam before and after going through the program said that their scores increased; improvement was greatest among 10th-graders, 43% of whom reported higher marks. Ninety-four percent said their test-taking strategies improved, four students received paid internships by the end of the camp. About 75% of the inaugural participants were black or Hispanic.
“The STEM camp opened my eyes to different kinds of occupations I would never have considered before,” said 2014 camp graduate Ruth Henry.
Three of last summer’s seniors chose to attend FGCU, while others enrolled elsewhere in Florida and at Johns Hopkins, Colgate and Purdue universities among others.
- Find out more about STEM Camp.
- Learn more about FGCU’s Whitaker Center for STEM Education.