New Summer Engineering Design Camp for Albemarle County Students Will Be Offered in Partnership With Scottsville Volunteer Rescue Squad
A unique summer program for Albemarle County Public Schools students is coming to Scottsville. Next month, the school division will open the door to Design, Make, Launch, an engineering design camp that will be held from July 17-29 in the Scottsville Volunteer Rescue Squad’s community room.
The program will provide students with an opportunity to construct an original product or social innovation that solves a current problem in the community. Over the two-week period, students will work through a design process, develop plans and documentation, build a prototype, and present the purpose and solution of their idea to an audience.
The goal is to reach students in kindergarten through 12th grade through a naturally collaborative environment for discovery and learning. Participants will be guided through their projects by teachers, mentors and volunteers. Facilitators include Scottsville’s Kelly Kroese, who heads up Monticello High School’s Media Center, and Anita Nixon, an instructional coach for the school division. Kroese will work with middle and high school students, while Nixon will work with elementary school students each day.
The collaborative effort involves several community partners, including Scottsville’s Volunteer Rescue Squad and the University of Virginia’s ReinventED Lab. A special feature of the camp’s community outreach will be lunches provided to all students. A different Scottsville community organization will host lunch each day.
The program runs for two consecutive weeks, Monday through Friday, beginning July 17. Morning sessions are devoted to students in grades K-5, and late morning through afternoon sessions are for middle and high school students. The program will culminate in a public display of student works on Saturday, July 29, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the community room.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for students to engage in hands-on learning, follow their own passions and interests, and make a contribution to solving a real-world need. It’s a perfect way to not only add enjoyment to their summer, but to gain skills that will serve them for a lifetime,” said Gloria Rockhold, the school division’s Community Engagement Manager.
