This partnership between Computing & Information Technology, Engineering, and CTN is an initiative at Wayne State to help inspire underrepresented students to pursue STEM courses and, eventually, college degrees. The project will fund STEM program opportunities for K-12 students who might not otherwise envision the possibilities of a STEM career. The target audience is underrepresented students (based on state-approved free and reduced lunches) between the ages of 7-17. These students will benefit from week-long, instructor-led, hands-on STEM based courses including: Girls who Code, Forensics CSI, Artificial Intelligence, Coding Bootcamp, Cyber Security, Game Design w/Unity, Robotics Team Challenge, Hack It, Web Design and Photography, Biomedical Engineering, Aerospace and Aviation, Camp Cosmos, and Construction Technology. Due to COVID-19 the programs will be offered virtually throughout the summer and 2020-2021 school year rather than in-person summer camps on the university campus.
Children living in low-income homes are at a greater risk of succumbing to “summer slide” – the tendency for students to lose some of the achievement gains they made during the school year, and over time, these gaps continue to grow, especially in the areas of Science, Technology, Logistics (Engineering) and Math. The project goal is to make STEM based courses available to those students that would otherwise not be able to attend and would not be able to grow in their STEM skills and education. The target audience is underrepresented students (based on state-approved free and reduced lunches) between the ages of 7-17. These students will benefit from week-long, instructor-led, hands-on STEM based courses including: Girls who Code, Forensics CSI, Artificial Intelligence, Coding Bootcamp, Cyber Security, Game Design w/Unity, Robotics Team Challenge, Hack It, Web Design and Photography, Biomedical Engineering, Aerospace and Aviation, Camp Cosmos, and Construction Technology.