STEAM Ahead @ Discovery Junction, a ministry of Upper Columbia Conference ACS, is organizing four Kids camps this summer Monday through Friday from 10 am – 12 noon. The first camp “Lego Robotics” which was held from July 9-12 taught kids robotics and engineering principles to make cool things out of legos through the Lego Mindstorms EV3 software. It was attended by eight children, four of whom were Nepalese. More Nepalese children expressed desire to attend the remaining camps. Gayle Haeger, one of the organizers, invited a newly retired librarian who is a Lego Robotics specialist to present at this camp. This also provided an opportunity for evangelism. The non-SDA librarian every day requested during the worship that Gayle pray for her family member who had taken a serious fall. At the end of the week, she told Gayle what a wonderful experience she had and wished to be a part of the second camp “Microscopy4Kids”, as well. Gayle invited her to assist, and she was delighted to be back.
The second camp took place from July 16-20 where the kids learned about different kinds of microscopes and how they function. They also got to closely look at tiny living organisms, insect wings, animal hair, flower parts, and etc. The third camp, “Mini Maker Mania”, started on July 23rd and will end on the 27th. It involves designing, building, and creating things through hands-on experiments and activities. The final summer camp “Junior Chef” will provide kids instruction in the culinary arts. It will include healthy samples and recipes, use of basic kitchen equipment, kitchen safety and hygiene, and tips on staying healthy and energized. It will be held next week from July 30 – August 3.
In addition to the Kids Camps, STEAM Ahead also organized a Junior camp at Camp MiVoden few weeks ago. Seven of their past two-year STEAM Ahead children from the local low-income public school attended the camp. Currently, the parents of one of the attendees live in a park. Patty Marsh, UCC ACS Director, said, “What a privilege is ours to change the lives of children not only in this world, but for the world to come”. She added, “As you can imagine – outreach ministry whether during the summer or after school enrichment is challenging, but in this complex world I believe we must stretch our methods in the way we touch the lives of others”.
