UW-Stout’s Summer STEAM Experience is offering in-person, guided activities in science, technology, engineering, art and math for middle and high school students in June.
The Summer STEAM Experience runs from Sunday, June 12, to Thursday, June 16. Students entering grades 9 to 12 are invited to explore career paths with UW-Stout faculty in a campus setting, with experiences that highlight the value of creative and critical thinking.
The Junior STEAM Experience, for students entering grades 6 to 8, runs from Sunday, June 19, to Thursday, June 23. Students will explore STEAM courses through hands-on activities and games.
Registration for both experiences is open.
Rebecca Thacker, program manager for Professional Education Programs and Services at UW-Stout, which is organizing the STEAM events, said, “We are so excited to be back in person this summer and look forward to sharing the many opportunities of UW-Stout with campers.”
The STEAM experience for older students offers six tracks, while the Junior experience offers five tracks, with the guidance of UW-Stout faculty, teaching assistants and camp counselors.
Lecturer Jonny Wheeler, in the School of Art and Design, will be leading the Video Production track, in which students will learn how to tell a story from script writing to planning shots to capturing professional-quality video. At the end of the week, students will screen their short films on the big screen in the university’s Harvey Hall Theatre.
“Students have a story to tell. Film is all about stories,” Wheeler said. “This summer, I will be working with students to help find new ways for them to creatively tell their own stories by constructing a visual narrative through video.
“Project-based learning is the backbone of the class and gives students an authentic experience by disseminating work outside of the classroom. For movies, that means a screening in a theater. We’re lucky here at Stout to have the beautifully historic Harvey Hall Theatre, where students can watch the films they’ve created; it’s inspiring just to be in that space.”
Other tracks include:
- Interior Design, with professors Julie Peterson and Nicolette Brehm: Campers will design a living space for their favorite celebrity, learning the design process, space planning, how to create a color palette and project presentations.
- 3D Animation, with Senior Lecturer Jesse Woodward: Campers will create 3D animations using the same software used by Disney Animation Studios, working together to produce an animated short film that will be featured online.
- Comics: Creative Nonfiction, with Lecturer and comic artist Mary Clime and Professor and nonfiction writer Kate Roberts Edenborg: Campers will learn the ins and outs of writing, drawing and producing an eight-page comic with creative nonfiction plot lines.
- Enameling on Metal: Grit, Gloss and Finish, with Lecturer Rose Schlemmer: Campers will learn the basics of how to enamel on metal using different techniques such as sgraffito, stencils, image decals and champlevé.
- The Art of Chain Making: Metalsmithing and Jewelry, with Lecturer Rose Schlemmer. Campers will learn the basics of creating wire forms using hand tools and soldering to make different chain samples, then design and create a jewelry piece.
- Explore 3D Printing and More, with professors Wei Zheng, Adam Kramschuster and Alex Jordan: Campers will learn to design and manufacture plastic and wood products and explore the high-demand plastics engineering profession.
Cost of the STEAM experiences is $450 for overnight campers and $300 for day campers. Scholarships are available to students in the Eau Claire, Menomonie and Grantsburg school districts. To learn more about scholarships email profed@uwstout.edu.
The program is sponsored by the Eau Claire and Menomonie school districts, Xcel Energy and Parker.
