STEM education hits the road in Eastern Kentucky this summer

LONDON, Ky. ( FOX 56 ) — Science, technology, engineering, and math all fall into stem education. To spread a love for stem learning across eastern Kentucky, a mobile lab called ‘Explorer 7’ is on the road this summer.

Explorer 7 is a learning lab on wheels, and what goes on inside is something that has Eastern Kentucky students ready to dive into STEM education.

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The students worked on several STEM projects as part of the summer camp experience. Kevin Smith is the co-founder of “Rural Up!” an organization looking to expand STEM education in Eastern Kentucky, and that’s exactly what this summer camp is for.

Rural Up! holds summer camp sessions at the London Children’s Museum, Harlan Independent High School in Harlan County, and EKU’s Manchester Campus in Clay County, per the camp’s website.

“Part of this and going around these communities is providing these unique educational opportunities for these students to get early experience in STEM-focused careers, and really create a pathway for them to see what they can do and be involved here in eastern Kentucky,” Smith said.

Multiple camps will be held this summer—the STEM Explorer Camp and the Cyber Arcade Camp (computer science)—across five counties, specifically designed for 5th–8th graders. They will be in Harlan, Manchester, Barbourville, and McKee, providing week-long camp opportunities. London was the venue on Friday.

The camp comes with experiences that students may not normally get, which is why Jackson Robbins was glad to be part of the mix.

“I’m Insanely thankful. I love this. It’s been an amazing pleasure going here. It’s just amazing,” Robbins said.

Samantha Bryant is a summer camp lead instructor. Bryant said she loved the opportunity to watch these students come up with and present in-depth ideas.

“I feel like, originally, being from Bell County, that I maybe didn’t get as much exposure to the different possibilities that there are. I’m excited to be able to share that with all the kids,” Bryant said.

More information on Rural Up’s camps can be found at Rural Up!

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