STEM Camp continues to be a popular summer activity

By Amy Partain

COLORADO SPRINGS. At St. Mary’s High School, summer means STEM Camp and a chance for area students to try out STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) activities both on campus and around the local community. This year’s camp was the seventh one hosted by St. Mary’s and continues to be popular with Colorado Springs students.

Raquel Krasovec, Director of Admissions at St. Mary’s, said the flying activities, including indoor skydiving at iFly and flying a Cessna, were some of the most popular activities.

“The students loved anything that was active,” Krasovec said. “The flying activities, the zip line and ropes course at Cave of the Winds, and the glider simulator at the Air Force Academy. The camp was a success as always with positive feedback from both the students and the parents.”

St. Mary’s STEM Camp dovetails and promotes the school’s Project Lead the Way (PLTW) STEM program. The first course in the program was offered in 2014-2015, with the first STEM Camp hosted in the summer of 2015. The camp has continued each year since, with the exception of 2020 when the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

St. Mary’s PLTW program includes five elective courses: Introduction to Engineering Design, Principles of Engineering, Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science Principles, Aerospace Engineering, and the senior capstone project, Engineering Design and Development. The program features project-based learning, and all five courses offer dual credit from the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. St. Mary’s PLTW students have the potential to earn 14 UCCS engineering credits while still in high school.

The addition of the aerospace engineering class in 2019 promoted the inclusion of aero activities to the STEM Camp lineup. Both the course and the aerospace options at STEM Camp complement the large aerospace industry in Colorado Springs.

Enrollment for the 2022-2023 school year remains open. Interested students and families are encouraged to contact Krasovec at 719-635-7540 to schedule a tour of our campus.

(Amy G. Partain is Director of Communications and Marketing for St. Mary’s High School)