As evidenced by the elementary school youngsters having fun while learning on a college campus, Camp STEM at MTSU is gathering steam.

Four weeks in June will find Murfreesboro City and Rutherford County students on campus, where they will grow in science, technology, engineering and math skills.

Led by director David Lockett, a fourth-grade teacher at Homer Pittard Campus School, Camp STEM pushes children interested in the STEM disciplines to increase their knowledge and have fun at the same time.

A group of elementary school boys participating in the first week of Camp STEM at MTSU recycle plastic bottles by turning them into a robot on wheels in a Kirksey Old Main classroom. (MTSU photos by News and Media Relations)

The camp is founded on the principle that students want exciting, challenging and life-impacting STEM experiences. Its goal is to demonstrate how STEM works in the real world by providing hands-on activities in STEM.

Camp STEM is a series of four one-week camps focusing on the areas of science, technology, engineering and math. An average of 25 to 50 children attend each week.

“Each week, we focus on something different, whether it’s robotics, recycling, art, earth science … something to pique students’ curiosity,” Lockett said.

The first and third weeks of the camp will focus on robotics. June 8-12 will pick up steam as the arts are added to the STEM elements. June 22-26, the final week, touches on earth and space science.

Science-driven Camp STEM also provides spring and fall break options in addition to the June opportunity.

For more information, visit www.campstem.us/about-us, email Lockett at David.Lockett@mtsu.edu or info@campSTEM.us or call 615-415-7963 or 615-569-5904.

— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)

Wesley Gross, 11, left, and Brooklyn Elizabeth Moore, 9, maneuver the MTSU Experimental Vehicles Program lunar rover through a parking lot as part of Camp STEM robotic activities June 2. The two are rising sixth- and fourth-graders, respectively, at Homer Pittard Campus School.