The Fun Begins!
On Monday, June 27, 2011, students in the West Oakland community began their 3-week Summer Engineering Experience for Kids (SEEK). The first day focused on getting the students orientated to the new environment and establishing the ground rules for the camp experience. Obviously, there were mixed emotions throughout the day as students participated in ice-breakers and community building activities. Overall, the first day was a tremendous success according to counselors, teaching staff, students, and program administrators.
Pictured above, students are actively engaged as the mentors demonstrate formulas for calculating perimeter, area, and circumference of 2-dimensional shapes. As you can tell, the small groups allow for more individual attention and depth than most students ever get in a normal classroom setting. Furthermore, most of the mentors are current college students seeking degrees in the science, technology, engineering, or math fields.
Students Are Flying High At SEEK!
Each Friday, students have an opportunity to show off their newly developed engineering skills. Competitions are held for each toy based on speed, distance, and time. After preparing all week long, everyone looks forward to the Friday competitions. In the end, not all students walk away with a medal each Friday. However, they do walk away with valuable experience, and the intrinsic rewards that come with acquiring new skills, meeting new challenges, and making new friends in the process.