SOCORRO–The buzzing noise coming from the New Mexico Tech campus this summer isn’t from bumblebees. It’s the sound of teens and tweens learning a variety of information technology topics at the inaugural Computer Science Buzz Camp.
Emiley Allard, a sophomore at Belen High School, checks out the technology in the New Mexico Tech e-sports lab. Allard said she’s enjoyed the multiple activities packed into every day of the week-long Computer Science Buzz Camp. (Submitted photo)
The camp consisted of week-long on-campus learning experiences for seventh- and eighth-graders the week of July 18 to 22, and for high schoolers from July 25 to 29. Students from across the state signed up for the 30 openings for the first-ever, free computer science camps.
Funding for the camp, which covered a stay in a Tech dorm room and meals at the Fidel Student Center from Sunday through Friday, came from anonymous donors, said Samantha Vigil of the Office for Advancement, who served as project manager for the Buzz Camp initiative.
“The donors have a very special interest in nontraditional learning as well as gauging new and innovative ways to teach things,” she said.
Donors covered the cost of Tech hosting students enrolled in the master’s of science teaching program for a week in mid-June to learn about the coding program Python. The teachers have spent the time in the interim developing their own projects for the Buzz Camps based on what they learned about coding and apps.
Buzz Camp students receive instruction from the teachers as well as Computer Science Department faculty and participate in hands-on activities, culminating in a final project they present at the end of the week.
“There’s been similar camps, but this is the first one that New Mexico Tech is hosting as part of an MST program,” Vigil said.
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April 19, 2024
