SciTech program
prepares campers
for the future
Since 2011 SciTech Summer Enrichment program has intro
duce<f hundreds of students to STEM though hands-on
experiments and filed trips. Director Denise Johnson said,
the summer camp is a general STEM experience combined
with different flavors of particular topics.
Students work together to create a wind turbine that can create sustainable energy for a
fictional village on Tuesday, June 22 during the SciTech summer enrichment program
held at Paisley Middle School. The summer camp is designed to introduce students to
the exciting world of STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics).
BY TEVLN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
Most children kicked
off their summer vacation a
few weeks ago by ditching
their books for the pool or .
the beach. But, for a select
group of students who par
ticipated in this year's'
, SciTech summer program,
the calming sounds of
waves crashing onto the
beach is nothing compared
to the excitement of start
ing summer break in a fully
functional science lab.
Since 2011 the program
sponsored by the Wake
Forest Innovation Quarter
has introduced students to
the exciting world of
STEM ? (Science,
Technplogy, Engineering
and Mathematics), through
hands-on experiments,
classroom lessons, and
field trips. Program direc
tor and associate professor
of education at Winston
Salem State University
Denise Johnson
saidSciTech is a general
STEM experience com
bined with different flavors
of particular topics.
Johnson noted, along
with keeping students'
minds fresh during the
summer months. SciTech
also prepares students who
are ready to go into the
workforce. She said during
each lesson students are
given a real world issue
and asked to work in
groups to find a solution to
the problem.
Priced at only S10 per
student, SciTech is also an
affordable alternative to
other summer camps that
charge more than $100.
"In order to create a
systemic population of
people who are ready for
jobs in North Carolina you
have to get them interested
early. You cannot wait until
they're high school or col
lege bound," she said.
"We have to make sure
a children are prepared to
make a difference in our
communities."
According to Johnson,
this year's theme was sus
tainabiiity. She said they
chose that topic because
there have been so many
sustainable issues dis
cussed on the news and in
the media.
"Both physical and
social sustainable issues
need to be reinvented," she
continued. "For example,
the Flint, Michigan, water
issues was a science issue
but it was also a social
issue."
During an interview
with The Chronicle,
Johnson said, moving for
ward we're going to need
young people who are
interested in those types of
issue. "They hear about
these issues on the news or
from their parents, but
what is an action they can
take?
"That's what SciTech is
all about introducing stu
dents to jobs that focus on
solving these issues. These
are careers and we have to
ensure our students are
interested in them."
This year, more than
100 students spent the first
weeks of their vacation
building wind turbines and
thinking of other ways to
bring sustainable ener
gyand water to a fictional
village.
Allison Bonner, a stu
dent at Walkertown Middle
School, said what she
enjoys most about the
camp is the experiments
and the field trips they take
to places like WSSU, Wake
Forest, and businesses
throughout the region that
specialize in STEM.
"I like that it's very
interactive," she said. "We
get to do a lot of hand's on
activities that we don't usu
ally do in a tegular class
room."
Bonner, who also
attended the camp last year,
said although English is her
favorite subject, after par
ticipating in SciTech the
past two summers she has
become more interested in
science and making the
world a better place.
First time camper
Charline Tucker, who is
home schooled, admits
after first having doubts
about the camp she quickly
realized that SciTech was
nothing like she expected
in a classroom setting the
instructors make it enjoy
able.
"I usually don't go to
camps like this but it's real
ly been awesome. Even the
math classes are really
cool," said Tucker. "They
do a really good job of bal
ancing fun and school."
Funding will help
families with
young children
SPECIAL TO
THE CHRONICLE
Family Services
announces has that a col
laboration of five leading
community agencies has
received grants from three
major community funding
organizations for a project
that will improve the lives
of families with young
children in vulnerable
neighborhoods.
The Kate B. Reynolds
Charitable Trust, the
United Way of Forsyth
County and The Winston
Salem Foundation, all in
Winston-Salem, have
joined resources to provide
more than $1.4 million to
support the development
and launch of a family suc
cess collaborative called
Strong@Home, which will
address issues of poverty
for families and school
readiness for children in
these families.
Strong? Home is a col
laboration of Family
Services with Goodwill
Industries of Northwest
North Carolina, Financial
Pathways of the Piedmont,
Imprints Cares, and
Habitat for Humanity of
Forsyth County. Working
together, the project will
help low-income parents
and their children thrive as
each partner provides evi
dence-based programs that
are designed to overcome
barriers to success.
"Poverty falls especial
ly hard on families with
young children. Parents
often lack sufficient educa
tion, marketable job skills,
and affordable bousing,"
said Bob Feikema, presi
dent and CEO of Family
Services, the lead agency
in the project. "Poverty
produces unremitting
stress and can lead to
behavioral health prob
lems. Parents are hard
pressed to find the time and
energy to parent effective
ly. And, when resources are
9
limited at home and in the
neighborhood, children too
often arc not ready to suc
ceed when they enter
school."
"Unfortunately, one in
five residents in our com
munity currently lives in
poverty," said Cindy
Gordineer, president and
CEO, United Way of
Forsyth County. "We know
that poverty doesn't relate
only to the finances of a
family. It also impacts chil
dren's educational success,
their health and general
well-being. That's why
solutions to the challenge
of poverty need to be
equally interconnected,
which is exactly what
Strong@Home is attempt
ing to achieve."
The United Way
awarded $266351, and
The Winston-Salem
Foundation granted
$100300 toward the first
year of the project. The
Kate B. Reynolds
Charitable Trust has
awarded $800000 over the
next three years, and the
Family Services Head Start
program will contribute
$96,250 each year, making
the initial commitment to
the anti-poverty and school
readiness project a total of
$1,455,901.
Scott Wierman, presi
dent of The Winston-Salem
Foundation, noted, "This is
a great example of a col
laborative effort by local
funding organizations to
help local families and
their children succeed first
by identifying and utilizing
family and neighborhood
assets. That is what Asset
Based Community
Development is all about,
and we wholeheartedly
support it."
Feikema said that a
project of this scope is
unprecedented in Forsyth
County and sets a new
standard for how organiza
tions can work together to
improve the well-being of
families with preschool
children.
"We're breaking new
ground," he said. "Thanks
to the support of the Kate
B. Reynolds Charitable
Trust, The Winston-Salem
Foundation, the United
Way of Forsyth County,
Head Start, and our partner
agencies, Strong@Home
has the potential to trans
form how families use
human services to improve
their lives and their neigh
borhoods."
"The Kate B. Reynolds
Charitable Trust has long
been committed to helping
Forsyth County residents
improve their quality of
life," said Joe Crocker, ?
director of the Trust's Poor
and Needy Division. "We
are proud to support
"Strong@Home" because
it allows us to help families
dealing with poverty, as
well as invest in school
readiness efforts for our
community's youngest
children, which is a critical
piece of our long-term
Great Expectations initia
tive."
"We are grateful to
these community leaders
for endorsing our collec
tive efforts to ensure that
young children will be able
to grow and develop in a
nurturing home and com
munity," said Feikema.
Beginning in the fall,
100 families enrolled in
Head Start and SO families
with young children in
Boston-Thurmond will
become members of
Strong@Home. Six family
advocates will work on
behalf of the families to
connect them to the servic
es of the partner agencies.
In addition, family mem
bers will draw upon their
own talents and skills to
help achieve their goals
and assist other families in
the project.
Come support services that provide compassionate patient care and encouragement for their
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