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For the past two weeks, dozens of area students have had the opportunity to learn computer coding, engineering and more at two summer camps hosted by Isothermal Community College.
The camps were supported by a generous donation from Meta, which has been part of the Rutherford County community since 2010, when the company broke ground on its Forest City Data Center.
During the Computer Coding Camp, held June 27-30, rising 11th and 12th graders learned basic coding skills as applied to robotics, coding for web development, and Windows desktop coding. Each day during lunch, students interacted with industry expert guest speakers from the Meta Forest City Data Center who talked about opportunities in the world of computer sciences and programming.
The Discovery Engineering Camp, held June 20-23, was hosted through a partnership with North Carolina State University. This camp is designed to engage rising 7th through 9th grade students in the "Grand Challenges of Engineering." Campers were engaged in hands-on learning activities that incorporate a variety of engineering concepts. For example, teams of students built small bridges out of pasta and hot glue, then the bridges were tested for durability by adding marbles to a cup, one at a time, until the structure cracks or fails.
The students also toured the State of North Carolina Data Center in Forest City, which is where records from many North Carolina state governmental agencies are housed.
"This summer, Isothermal Community College was proud to host the eighth year of our Discovery Engineering Camp as well as the inaugural offering of our new Computer Coding Camp," said Dr. Greg Thomas, ICC's vice president of Academic and Student Affairs. "Thanks to very generous sponsorship from industry partner Meta, Isothermal was able to engage more than three dozen local middle and high school students in hands-on engineering and coding experiences which will give those students to opportunity to explore exciting career paths available to them as they progress along their respective academic journeys."
"STEM education encourages creativity and problem solving while opening up a world of possibility for career opportunities," said Tara Tenorio, community development regional manager at Meta. "This camp specifically tied STEM skills to game and app development as an innovative way to engage students. Our team enjoyed interacting with these bright young people, and we're proud to support Isothermal Community College in bringing these valuable programs to young people in our community."
For more information about the camps for next summer, contact Nicole Dragan at ndragan@isothermal.edu for the Discovery Engineering Camp or Dr. Dana Anderson at danderson@isothermal.edu for the Computer Coding Camp.
