EvanSTEM, a project within Evanston-Skokie School District 65, and the Evanston Public Library plan to run six STEM mini-camps this summer with the help of a grant of $10,000 received from Motorola Solutions Foundation, the charitable arm of Motorola Solutions, Inc. The mini-camps will help provide underrepresented and underserved students across Evanston with technology and engineering learning.
There will be six separate four-day camps at three locations in Evanston. Each location will host a four-day Lego Robotics camp and a four-day Arcade Coding Game Design camp.
“We really can’t wait for the summer to take our pilot programs from last summer to full scale this year,” says Kirby Callam, Director of EvanSTEM. “We had great attendance and enthusiasm from these camps last year at the Library and now we can reach a larger pool of students by partnering with Y.O.U and Family Focus in the 5th Ward and Chute Middle School in the 9th Ward.”
In the Lego Robotics course, middle school-aged students design and code robots to perform a number of tasks using Lego’s advanced robotics kits. In the Arcade camp, students use Scratch programming language to create and play their own arcade games. Both camps also employ Evanston’s new online learning platform, EL3, for students to upload artifacts of their work to their own learning profile and share reflections of their achievements with their camp peers.
“The Motorola Solutions Foundation is honored to and privileged to support the collaboration between District 65’s EvanSTEM and the Evanston Public Library,” said Matt Blakely, executive director of the Motorola Solutions Foundation. “We believe in organizations that are fostering innovation, building partnerships and driving change, and we’re proud to be part of the positive impact they’re making in communities.”