Twenty-eight 1st to 7th grade students gathered at the Lucerne Valley Rocket Launch site on Saturday, July 30 to launch their rockets and celebrated their completion of a summer STEM camp organized by Young Engineers in Action (YEA), a budding non-profit organization.
The six-week summer camp was held every Saturday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., from June 18 to July 30, with its curriculum entirely composed and taught by high school volunteers from some of the top schools in Southern California.
Twenty-eight 1st to 7th grade students gathered at the Lucerne Valley Rocket Launch site on Saturday, July 30 to launch their rockets and celebrated their completion of a summer STEM camp organized by Young Engineers in Action (YEA), a budding non-profit organization.
The six-week summer camp was held every Saturday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., from June 18 to July 30, with its curriculum entirely composed and taught by high school volunteers from some of the top schools in Southern California.
Nicholas Fu, senior at Oxford Academy, initiated this program and led a team of seven high school student volunteers, Hitomi Torng and Keith Tran of Oxford Academy, Charmaine Lee, Lucy Wang, and Vivian Shi of Whitney High School, Ryan Li of Troy High School, and Gill Lin of Cerritos High School.
These young instructors educate their 1st to 7th grade students on different fields of science, which encapsulates physics, environmental science, biology, and model rocketry.
The community’s response about the program was extremely enthusiastic, as more than 30 students signed up in a matter of two days.
Ranging from making model volcanos to a homemade lava lamp, the camp’s most prominent feature is model rocketry.
What seemed to be the more popular aspect of the summer camp was its hands-on experience, as after every session the students would be able to take home a science experiment to show their parents.
One parent said “Every time my son came home from the summer camp, he wouldn’t hesitate to show me what experiment he had worked on that day. It was a proud moment as a parent to witness children’s enthusiasm.”
The summer camp, however, was not only popular among the parents but also the high school students involved with the program.
Charmaine said, “The camp gave us high school volunteers a chance to be independent, take charge, and lead a classroom.”
“YEA provides that fun experience of learning by doing, which can inspire children to pursue an interest in science,” added Keith. “There aren’t many programs nowadays that really allow young students to be interactive and hands-on with science experiments.”
Nicholas comments, “Our main goal was to instill a passion for science in these younger children, and I think we’ve accomplished that and more thanks to the community response both from the students and from the instructors.”
YEA Summer Camp will be held annually in the Orange County/Los Angeles locals, the next session being in the early summer of 2017.
YEA advocates for providing the younger generation with the proper tools to guide them into future STEM careers.
Founded this May by two high school students, Nicholas Fu and Lia Tian, the organization has already made a name for itself in the community.
Additional information about the summer camp and the non-profit behind it can be found at www.youngengineersinaction.org.
