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Summer Stays On Track for Middle and High School Students

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[Updated 06/09/2020]
For many years, K12 students were able to discover Georgia Tech's campus through exciting science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) based learning programs hosted in the summer by the Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC). This year's registration had already begun when the recent shelter in place orders resulted in the need for students to stay at home. Through its new STEAM Whistle Workshops, CEISMC was able to respond to this challenge by quickly moving to a virtual online platform.

“I am so impressed with the efforts of CEISMC staff who quickly responded to transform our innovative Summer PEAKS on-campus programming into wonderful, engaging on-line programming. While we are eager to bring students back on campus as soon as we safely can, STEAM Whistle Workshops provides a great alternative for students across the state of Georgia,” said Lizanne DeStefano, Executive Director, CEISMC at Georgia Tech.

"For some of the youth, our programs are their first experience with computer science or integrating Art in STEM," said Sirocus Barnes, Director of Student Programs at CEISMC. "It was important for us to continue to provide these high quality and engaging programs," said Barnes. "With the virtual programming this summer, we can now have connections with youth across our entire state and beyond from home."

To adjust to the online format, CEISMC has shifted to a blended learning environment where students can attend virtual lectures as well as build, design, and program projects. The new format allows students to gain meaningful experience through virtual experiments in small groups with custom guidance.

"As students across Georgia are already spending a great deal of time in a virtual learning environment, we wanted to place emphasis on ensuring the programs could still have that fun camp environment while offering enrichment-based learning experiences," said Tim Cone, Program Director for CEISMC at the Georgia Tech Savannah campus.

The programs offered this summer provide a variety of options for middle school students interested in STEAM learning. These programs include Mobile App and Game development, Moving Art, Full STEAM Ahead, Coded Beats, and GT GIRLS. A new session has been added for July titled "Maker Camp : Game Creation" for student in grades 4th - 6th.

Mobile App and Games use Construct 3 to teach the basics of applications and game creation on mobile and computer platforms. Moving Art bridges the gap between art and engineering by encouraging students to integrate the five-step Engineering Design Process into each unique project. 

The Coded Beats session teaches music production skills and computer coding skills using the Python programming language. GT GIRLS (Girls Interested in Rapidly Learning STEAM) courses use virtual hands-on activities and experiments to introduce young female scholars to exciting STEAM careers.

To engage an older audience, the STEAM Whistle Workshops offer high school students Seth Bonder Data Science and Into the Storm. The Seth Bonder Data Science workshop is designed for high school students interested in engineering who have no or minimal background in data science and computer programming. Into the Storm guides students in exploring the physics behind the formation of severe weather events in the atmosphere.  

Registration is currently open for June and July session. Visit the CEISMC STEAM Whistle Workshop website for more details regarding individual sessions and how to register.

 

By Shannon Malone - CEISMC Communications

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  • Workflow Status:Published
  • Created By:Steven Taylor
  • Created:05/14/2020
  • Modified By:Steven Taylor
  • Modified:06/08/2020