By Eddie Gonzalez, and Cdr. Joe Angell, P.E., CCM, F.SAME, USN (Ret.), Guest Contributors
Working with its national network of Posts, volunteers, and sponsors, SAME develops, maintains, and runs a variety of camps to provide in-person experiences to students interested in exploring STEM-related skills and careers.
There are myriad benefits of the camps, both to the individuals who attend, to the organizations that support and sponsor, and to the profession and the nation, which in time, will derive the outputs from these young minds who are inspired to pursue STEM careers.
SAME camps encourage STEM-interested students to pursue a degree and gives them a sense of the careers associated with that education. Campers learn what it takes to become a STEM professional and see what options exist to explore that interest from high school to college and beyond. The camps also introduce hands-on construction and engineering skills that are in short supply. And many of the camps are held in conjunction with military installations, which further introduce campers to STEM activities in a military environment.
The net outcome is more STEM professionals available to meet our nation’s needs.
And whether it’s a week-long immersive Engineering & Construction Camp, an Exploring Engineering Camp, or a one-day STEM Camp, leadership development is at the core of each experience. Camp activities help campers not only learn about science and engineering principles, but also help them understand their leadership potential.
Go Red Team! Go Blue Team!
Many of the camps separate students into teams by color or flight. Camp activities become competitions among the teams. Arrive at the SAME/U.S. Army Engineering & Construction Camp in Vicksburg, Miss., and you’ll be greeted by team chants at every activity, every bus ride, and every meal.
Camps are a voyage of discovery. Yes, the students learn design, engineering and construction skills, but they also learn about teamwork, creativity, and resilience—traits that you want in a leader.
This competitive environment heightens the energy level and increases each team’s focus on the camp activity or challenge. By the end of the experience, teams have had to figure out the leadership dynamics that works best for their assortment of individual skills and traits to perform effectively as a team.
Whether building a dog shelter, assembling a balloon launcher, or choreographing a skit for the closing ceremony, campers learn when to lead and when to follow. They understand the importance of speaking up when they have an idea and they also learn to support a teammate even if they would have taken a different tack. These are the same attributes an engineering professional must acquire when in the workforce.
Camp activities refine how the students view themselves as a team member and use that to maximize the team’s efforts. It’s not all roses, though. Team breakdowns occur, emotions flare, and stress levels rise. Fortunately, camp mentors and staff are there to help them through the rough patches and guide them along their development as an effective leader and team member.
A Water Filter: Creativity on Display
It’s a sunny afternoon at the SAME. U.S. Air Force Academy Engineering & Construction Camp in Colorado Springs, Colo. The task seemed simple enough—create a water filter using a random assortment of items: socks, t-shirts, duct tape, rubber bands, tubing, charcoal briquettes, an old cooler, and PVC pipes. The sample to be filtered was a mix of water, cereal, oatmeal, milk, olive oil, and food coloring for added effect. Not something you’d like to drink.
Each team had to design a filtration system that allowed the water to flow from one container to another using gravity. Teams would be graded by the level of contaminants in the final container. While the starting materials were the same, eight teams took their designs in eight different directions. Some created a charcoal layer at the start of the flow, while some had it as the last step. Some had the water flow through a shredded t-shirt stuffed into the sock; some had it flow through layers of t-shirt and socks.
Graded by water quality, not each design was successful. However, until they were tested, each team had the same chance of success. The design represented the collective creativity of the team. In the end, unsuccessful teams could be just as proud of the lessons they learned from their designs as the teams whose designs yielded clear water. In either case, creativity was a vital part of the process—an essential skill for leaders.
Whose Got the Plastic Wrap?
Can you build a boat out of cardboard capable of staying afloat? Do you know how you would handle adversity?
Campers at the SAME/U.S. Marine Corps Engineering &Construction Camp at Camp Lejeune, N.C., know the answer to both questions.
Camp activities refine how the students view themselves as a team member and use that to maximize the team’s efforts. It’s not all roses, though. Team breakdowns occur, emotions flare, and stress levels rise.
It turns out a well-constructed boat made from cardboard, and carefully wrapped with plastic wrap, can keep two people afloat for as long as the cardboard remains dry. Unfortunately, a poorly constructed cardboard boat can sink seconds after the paddlers get on board. Even more unfortunate is that you don’t know whether your boat is well-built or not well-built until you sit in it. The moment of truth arrives quickly!
In this scenario, adversity comes in the form of pool water rushing into the boat. Teams have to quickly figure out how to recover the boat from the water and strategize if they can modify their design and get it back in the water. For most of the teams, it is a futile exercise. The cardboard is either too wet to re-wrap with plastic wrap or the cardboard has bent and will no longer keep its shape. This doesn’t stop the teams from trying. They continue until their boat finally disintegrates. Until then, they are convinced they still have a chance. Seeing them respond to that adversity is uplifting and awe-inspiring.
An Enduring Impact
Camps are a voyage of discovery. Yes, the students learn design, engineering and construction skills, but they also learn about teamwork, creativity, and resilience—traits that you want in a leader.
SAME’s Camps Program, for two decades, has been inspiring future STEM professionals and helping guide them on their path to future success. Today, the program continues to evolve, offering week-long immersive camps, exploratory camps, and day camps.
Collaboratively, with the support of Posts, volunteers, partner organizations, mentors and staff, the Society will continue to lead the way in developing leaders for the profession, and produce STEM professionals for the nation.
For more information, visit www.same.org/stemcamps.
