Igniting curiosity

An outdoor scene featuring a woman holding a small animal wrapped in a blue towel as she shows it to a group of children.
Is It Alive summer camp
Students wearing safety goggles observe a science experiment involving a Bunsen burner with colorful flames in a chemistry lab.
Discovering Chemistry summer camp
Cyber Miner Camp

A $300 million gift to a university is likely an abstraction in small, often-underfunded communities, but for students who come to S&T for a STEM camp, the impact has the potential to last a lifetime.

“…we hope to introduce them to educational and career opportunities they didn’t know existed prior to their experience here.”

S&T’s STEM camps offer students access to equipment, expertise and activities that simply are not available at their own schools.

Courtney Jones, director of the Kummer Center for STEM Education, says the summer camps deliver directly on June and Fred Kummer’s mandate to broaden STEM outreach.

“Tax revenues determine school funding, so districts that have little or no tax revenue cannot provide the same opportunities as districts with more resources,” says Jones. “That slows students down in ways that can impact them throughout their lives.”

Jones says the goal of the STEM Center, particularly the summer camps, is to equalize educational opportunities.

In 2024, 1,003 students from mostly underserved districts attended one or more of the 28 camps at S&T.

Jones sees the camps as a way to ignite curiosity.

“Curiosity is powerful,” she says. “As we provide students with opportunities to deepen their understanding of a particular topic, we hope to introduce them to educational and career opportunities they didn’t know existed prior to their experience here.”