CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) — A researcher at the U.S. Army Engineer Research Development Center's (ERDC) Construction Engineering Research Lab (CERL) is playing his part in providing students access to all things science and math.
During the annual one-week summer GEMS (Gains in the Education of Math and Science) camp, hosted at CERL, Research Civil Engineer Joseph Gamez is one of many engineers who assist in the camp. Gamez says he helps students who are already interested in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) or who might not know if they're interested yet. At the camp, students get to experience STEM alongside the scientists and engineers at CERL through a variety of hands-on activities.
“What we aim to do really is kind of spark or generate that interest in STEM. So for students who aren’t interested in STEM, who come to our camp, we’re hoping to ignite it. For students who are already interested in STEM, we’re hoping to further cultivate that,” said Gamez.
During the camp, students work on different projects to really let their imaginations run wild.
“It’s not a typical activity but we do have these capstone activities. For the middle school GEMS, we did structures large to small, so the large structures were civil engineering structures, bridges in particular,” said Gamez.
Although it's still winter, Gamez hopes parents will keep CERL in mind for next year's GEMS Camp
“Not only are we a weeklong summer camp, but we are absolutely free. The students, once they complete the camp, they get $100, well it’s a little over $100 they just raised it. But they get a $100 stipend in addition to that,” said Gamez.
Click here to find more information about the GEMS Camp (Gains in the Education of Mathematics and Science).
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