"STEM careers are so important, especially to our state," Tabitha Lafferre, assistant professor of civil engineering technology and one of the event organizers, said. "We have a lot of investment coming our way from federal funding, such as big oil and all kinds of infrastructure investments. A lot of NSF grants coming our way. It's great to have young students passionate about STEM and ready to go into that field and help our state."
Registration closes June 4 for the Tuesday, June 18 camp. The cost for students in $25 and includes lunch and a T-shirt. The camp begins at 9 a.m. in the Engineering Technology Building.
Lafferre said a large part of the rationale behind creating the STEM camp was to introduce children at an early age to the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. She said statistics show it's easier to inspire children to get involved in STEM at a young age rather than wait to target high school students, who are harder to inspire into the field.
It's certainly true for Lafferre, who found her STEM inspiration after watching her grandfather work in construction. Lafferre found the cranes and trusses cool, and watching them work eventually led her to pursue a degree in civil engineering.
Robert Niichel, assistant professor of mathematics and fellow Fairmont State camp organizer, said younger children are receptive to new experiences.
"They're developing skills and sort of asking, 'Am I good at science?'," he said. "'Am I good at math?' They're starting to develop a little bit stronger self perception than at younger years. So you have a little bit of a good time to get them interested."
Niichel said there's a practical benefit as well. A STEM degree takes considerable time and effort, so starting students early and making sure they pick the right classes in high school is important for STEM success.
Overall, Niichel said there is an issue nationwide retaining and recruiting STEM professionals. Difficulty is part of it, and partial credit might not be awarded for wrong answers. However, engineering, medicine and other STEM fields demand accuracy, a wrong calculation can result in a bridge collapse or an incorrect anesthetic dosage administered during surgery. Niichel isn't sure exactly why there's a shortage, but nonetheless the rate of retention for those fields at the college level is under 50 percent.
That's why Niichel wants to see more students enter the field earlier, and by taking the right classes in high school it sets them up for long term success.
Lafferre also wants to ensure the day camp is accessible to as many families as possible.
"Our status is not the richest state," she said. "We're not very high up on the economic list. We're at the bottom of it, unfortunately. So we want to make sure that this is available to students of all backgrounds. So they can attend and learn college is accessible to them if they want to continue on and go into a STEM career."
Students who partake will have their day broken down into three different activities — math, science and engineering. Although Lafferre is starting small, she hopes eventually the day camp will turn into a full weeklong camp.
Lafferre also likes working with kids. They're always engaged, she said.
"I love just talking to them," Lefferre said. "They don't care about having a phone in their hand or anything. They just want to talk and learn about cool things. So I really enjoy that."
©2024 the Times West Virginian (Fairmont, W. Va.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
