WEST TN STEM HUB SUMMER RECAP: GEE CAMPS

    Summer is an exciting time of the year for the STEM Hub. No classes, no obligations, just a time to have fun with students and teach STEM! Girls Experience Engineering (GEE) is by far my favorite camp to help plan and work within the summer. Created in 2004 by Dr. Ivey, GEE has been very popular ever since its development. I was a member of GEE since fourth grade and it is the reason that I chose mechanical engineering as my major today and why I have a passion for STEM outreach. It is almost like a “giving back” opportunity for me, I definitely would not be here today if it were not for my mentors who guided me back when I was a participant of GEE. If I can return that type of feeling to a young girl, that would truly make my day.

    This summer we hosted a week-long block of activities for the elementary, middle, and high school grade levels. There were some doubts about how the camp would go because of the precautions needed for COVID-19 and it was also the first time ever for the STEM Hub to host an elementary version of GEE, it was very exciting to impact students (specifically girls) at a very young age. All three age groups used the K’Nex Cars and straw rocket launchers and did a series of activities as a team. It was amazing to see how well the girls connected together as a team early on and immediately were ready to work together for the different challenges throughout the week. It brought back so many memories because I did those exact activities when I was participant at their age. So, I was so excited to see their thought process and to see if it differed form mine when I was their age.

    I believe all challenges were very manageable and done very well, and even the elementary students held their ground! Speaking of the elementary students, they were so bright at such a very young age! I loved the way that they knew so much about the topics we were going over and how they listened and enjoyed the guest speakers. I believe our first year of elementary students was a huge hit.

Elementary students designing their K’nex Car for a challenge.

    There isn’t anything I would ever change about GEE, except maybe the opportunity to work with more students!! GEE will forever have a special place in my heart and mean so much to me. We have done so much over the past years which makes it my most favorite summer camp. From robots to K’Nex to even when the pandemic and we had to shelter in place, we did GEE virtually and used TinkerCAD for a 3D bridge design project. With every challenge we have had thrown at us, we have always been able to rise. The possibilities are endless with GEE and the connections that you make are priceless.