The sound of nearly a dozen small drones could be heard flying around a gym at the Springfield Center of Innovation: The Dome in Springfield. They were being piloted by students taking part in the Springfield Technology Sampling Camp — a newsummer manufacturing camp for middle schoolers in the district.
The theme for the first week is “technology sampling.”
Lashonda Miller is the Executive Director of the Braxton Miller Foundation, one of the organizations working with the Springfield City School District to put on the camp.
"So having these kids be exposed and start to build the skills, or at least the awareness and curiosity about, 'What is a drone? What is coding?' Getting them exposed where they may or may not have been exposed before. So then as they grow and develop and as these technologies advance, they're advancing right along with it," Miller said.
Through the camp, students will become familiar with more drones, learn coding, and even get to repair airplanes later this week.
Rene Stratton is the Career Connected Program Coordinator with the Springfield City School District. She says that these new hands-on experiences could show kids future career paths.
"The goal of this week is to really expose them to new and upcoming technology, something that is going to be an option for their career. They play with a lot of this equipment, but they don't understand. 'Okay, if I love this, then what's my next step? What's a job that I can continue to do this fun play?'" Stratton said.
After this week, the camp will have other weekly themes related to the STEM field all summer. To learn more, you can visit the Springfield City School District website.
