New Adventures Camp Has Another
Successful Year In Greensburg

Robots and pasta bridges, and solar ovens - oh my! Thanks to funding received from The Community Foundation of Westmoreland County, the Private Industry Council was able to bring the New Adventures: Robotics and Manufacturing Camp back to its corporate office in Greensburg during the week of July 13-17. Currently in its third year, the New Adventures Camp is part of The Private Industry Council's wide array of youth programs designed for intellectual enhancement and career development. This year's camp offered opportunities for youth in grades 6-9 to participate in several Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) based activities, including pasta bridge building, LEGO robotics, and a field trip to the California University of Pennsylvania.

Youth specialist, Julia Sefcheck planed a variety of fun activities for the week-long camp. Using a cooperative learning approach participants were separated into teams representing fictional companies. Each "company" worked together throughout the week on a variety of activities including making rubber balls and chalk paint, designing packages to ship Pringles potato chips, and developing team logos for their t-shirts. In addition to the fun activities came insight from two wonderful speakers - David Bastl from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and Dan Griffith from Westmoreland Conservation District, who spoke on the importance of alternative energy. Students then had the opportunity to build solar ovens and prepare and cook their own lunch. Adventurers also had the opportunity to tour the California University of Pennsylvania's robotics department in preparation for the LEGO robotics component of the camp.

Several parents attended the event to see which bridge made out of pasta could hold the most weight in sand and which robot was the "mightiest". It didn't take long for all in attendance to realize the positive impact of the program. After about 5 minutes of the LEGO robot battles, everybody was on their feet cheering and laughing together. Julia Sefcheck explained the guidelines for the pasta bridge competition: "The bridges have to be under 2 pounds, the only materials that can be used are uncooked pasta and hot glue, and it has to be at least 29.5 inches long. The bridge that is the lightest with the ability to hold the most amount of weight wins." This year's winning bridge held a whopping 13 pounds of sand!

Nate Butina and Aaron DeCarlucci, both camp participants, shed light on their camp experiences.

What has been your favorite part of this camp?
Aaron - Pasta bridges for sure
Nate - Definitely pasta bridges

Is this your first time here?
Nate - Yes
Aaron - This is my second year here

What other activities have you done?
Nate - LEGO robots, Pringles boxes, solar ovens, we made rubber balls too!

Would you come back again?
Nate - Definitely for sure
Aaron- Sure this has been pretty fun

Support for this program doesn't end with the participants. Parents and guardians alike couldn't be more positive about the camp. "My son loved it" explains Mike Chovanec, a physics teacher at Hempfield Area Senior High School, "I like the variety of activities, from architecture to marketing, and the teamwork aspect is key. They learn that teams aren't all about one person they are about everyone."

Another parent, Tom Gamber explained the importance of the quality of activities offered. "Anything that is hands on is great, it's at the perfect time of year, and they're not just killing time, they're doing something they can learn from."

Hands on indeed! While a majority of school work is done with pencil and paper, the New Adventures Camp stresses a more vocational side to learning. With so much room for creativity and personal style it is easy to see why the New Adventures Camp was a hit with children and parents alike and is becoming a popular facet of the Private Industry Council's youth programming.

PIC recognizes the importance of augmenting STEM education in the region and enlarging the pipeline of students prepared to enter careers in STEM fields and was pleased to have the opportunity to make an impact in those areas with The Community Foundation of Westmoreland County funding. PIC is currently researching additional funding sources to offer this successful program again next year.

For more information on the youth programs offered by the Private Industry Council, contact Tami Ozegovich, director of education at 724-836-2600.