Summer 2022 STEAM Camp

By Jared Wittekind

Over the course of five days this past July, 21 students from Appalachian Ohio gathered at the BB2C Makerspace for STEAM Camp; a series of creative, problem solving, leadership and collaborative activities focused on building interconnected Rube Goldberg machines. Students were rising 9th graders through 2022 high school graduates. They split up to work in teams during the day and spent their afternoons and evenings doing fun activities together around the area.

Students were able to engage with business professionals at Thermo Fisher Scientific and Just-A-Jar Design Studio, as well as participate in a virtual Q&A session with inventor/YouTuber, Simone Giertz. Campers also had the opportunity to go kayaking and rock climb, play disc golf, and experienced campus life by staying at Marietta College.

The BB2C Makerspace STEAM Camp (science, technology, engineering, art, mathematics) was sponsored by the Governor’s Office of Appalachia so that students from economically impacted regions of Ohio could attend the camp free-of-charge. This was BB2C’s second such camp, with our first one being our 2019 summer STEM Camp. This year, BB2C Makerspace Director, Jared Wittekind, and STEAM Camp Director, Kristi Leonard-Webber (with the incredible support of BB2C staff and interns) set out to provide an opportunity in which students could learn life-changing lessons and skills through experiential learning.

“These last few years, these kids have been isolated, and their ability to work and collaborate and work together was a component of their development that had been taken away. So, reinvesting in that and reminding them that they are valued as individuals for a collective whole is becoming more of a necessity and these opportunities facilitate the option to have that,” says Webber.

Students were able to work on success skills such as team-building and communication, critical thinking and innovation, and conflict resolution and adaptability. Student feedback about the camp was extremely positive, with one student sharing that they “honestly thought it was perfect” and another student reflecting that they “learned how to better collaborate with others and not take things so seriously”.

Interested in learning about what other STEM and STEAM activities we offer to students, educators, classes, and community members? Contact us at makerspace@bb2careers.org and check out our Makerspace classes and events at bb2careers.org/events.