Young people with an interest in high technology are getting together at South Broward High School to participate in a STEM camp. They are learning about the latest in robotics, coding, rockets and game design.
The camp is run by Darin Koch, who teaches computer science at South Broward High School. But he has some very gifted camp counselors. They are young men and women who excelled in high technology in high school and some are continuing to study the field in college.
The young campers are doing engineering using Minecraft and they are doing computer simulated rocket launches. They are learning about coding in Python and are programming robots. They are designing games. And they are having some good old fashion fun. After a morning of very intensive high technology work, the children and the camp counselors went outside and played catch with footballs. They also played four square and kickball.
“They are learning to program robots and they are learning about coding,” said Koch. “They learn how to program a robot through an obstacle course.”
During a morning session, the young campers learned how to create games under the instruction of some very bright high school and college students. One camper enjoyed creating a simulated rocket launch.
Ariana Muresan, a counselor graduated from South Broward and is looking forward to studying mechanical engineering at the University of Central Florida this fall. “I enjoy teaching the kids new programs and I think it helps them. I like working with some of the new programs. I hope to get a job at NASA after college,” she said.
Joshua Parron, a camp counselor graduate from South Broward and will attend St. Ambrose University this fall on an electronic games scholarship. This is now considered a varsity sport at the college level. “I enjoy video games and I hope to develop a career in high technology. I love video games,” he said.
Loisbrent Cardoso began working at the STEM camp while he was a student at South Broward. Now he is studying electrical engineering at the University of Florida. “I enjoy teaching children about computers,” he said.
The camp atmosphere is fun and exciting. The children are very engaged in computers and love to learn more about high technology. And the counselors are also having a lot of fun.
