Museum of Aviation kicks off interactive STEM summer camps

WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — The Museum of Aviation has begun its six-week 2023 STEM Summer Camps program for children grades 1-10. Their first set of classes took place on June 5.

“Our mission is to get children on the path to learning. We set rigorous goal setting methods, hands-on activities, and experimentations to get the child to think about the world around them and how they interact with the world around them.” Lacey Meador, Marketing and Public Relations specialist for the Museum of Aviation, said.

There will be more than 500 children participating this year, over 100 more than last year. In fact, the program has grown so much in popularity there is a wait list for most of the summer camps.

“It’s great because this is where the career fields are going now, this is where, not that money is everything, the money is being made.” Meador said.

Through their 36 camps, the program aims to have participants learn and think about the world around them, then apply that information with hands-on activities.

In addition to camps focusing around the STEM fields, there will be camps that focus around the arts and history.

Some of the activities that children will engage in include creating and printing out a design using a 3D printer, learning about wildlife, going through the Mission Quest flight simulation, and studying web design, which according to Meador will be used “To market themselves, if they were to be an entrepreneur, like how to promote yourself.”

An opportunity specifically for returning 11th and 12th graders is the Jr. Volunteer internship. Here juniors or seniors looking to get into teaching will help teach the younger children throughout the camps.

Although none of the programs will take place on Robins Air Force Base, one of the camps is centered on the Museum of Aviation. Interested attendees will exploring the museum with tour guides and learn about the exhibits on display.

The director of the National STEM Academy, Melissa Spalding, has worked in STEM fields for years and believes that these fields are best learned through hands on experimentation, which is why all camps have an interactive element to learn from.

Spalding also took the time to thank those who donated.

“Students will be so excited to experiment with the new technology and science kits we have been able to purchase because of the generous donations,” Spalding said.

Some who have helped make the program possible are the W. Mansfield Jennings Jr. Charitable Trust, who acted as the presenting sponsor and has supported the program for many years, and the Georgia Invitational Golf Tournament, which is donating its net income to the summer camps program.

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