Imagine, Invent, Inspire, – those three words explain the entire emphasis of the South Georgia Technical College STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Day efforts that involved more than 700 middle school students and teachers from Marion County, Schley County, Sumter County, and Southland Academy during the first of two huge STEM Day events this Spring on the South Georgia Technical College Americus campus.
“This was a great day,” said South Georgia Technical College Grants Coordinator and STEM Day Coordinator Nancy Fitzgerald. “I appreciate the support that we received from everyone here on campus as well as the area middle schools, Chattahoochee Flint RESA, GYSTC – Georgia Youth Science and Technology Centers, and Eaton Lighting. By working together, we are helping students imagine, invent, and inspire, and showcasing to them the careers available in the Science, Engineering, Technology and Math fields.”
South Georgia Technical College Vice President of Academic Affairs David Kuipers thanked everyone who made the day possible. “I was really impressed with the interaction between the students and the instructors and the creative ways that everyone presented their programs and activities.”
This is the second year that South Georgia Technical College and Chattahoochee Flint RESA have partnered together to promote STEM through a special day of hands on activities for the area school systems. Heidi Gooden of RESA and Nancy Fitzgerald of South Georgia Technical College worked together and hosted nearly 1000 students on a single day in the first event.
“This year, we had to split the event into two days. We turned schools away last year because we were at maximum capacity. So we decided to break the event up into two days this year and it has grown so much that we are ending up with over 600 students on both days,” said Fitzgerald. “And we are still having to turn some interested schools away.”
The students opened the day in the South Georgia Technical College Hangar (gymnasium) where they were greeted by SGTC Vice President of Academic Affairs David Kuipers and SGTC Grants Coordinator Nancy Fitzgerald. Chattahoochee Flint RESA’s Richard McCorkle and Heidi Gooden also talked with the students as well Georgia Power’s Don Porter and a team of officials from Eaton Lighting here in Americus. They shared thoughts about STEM and encouraged students to learn more about the benefits of a STEM education.
Then the students divided into smaller groups. The students visited Hicks Hall, the John M. Pope Industrial Technology Center, the Morgan Diesel and Automotive Center, and were treated to tours of the overall campus.
Students learned about scratch coding, designing robots, cup coding, snap circuits/cubeletes, utilized robotic arms, EV3 robots, NAO programing, building robot prototypes and more. Students also had a chance to see many of the STEM educational programs offered at South Georgia Technical College such as Aviation Maintenance, Avionics, Electronics, Air Conditioning Technology, Aircraft Structural Technology, Diesel, Automotive Technology, Computer Information Systems, Cosmetology, Criminal Justice, Culinary Arts, Fire Science, Electrical Systems Technology, Industrial Systems, Machine Tool Technology, Practical Nursing, Medical Assisting, Welding and Joining Technology and more.
Each student was given a STEM t-shirt to wear to the event and a small puzzle robot from South Georgia Technical College that students could put together to remind them of the STEM Day activities. All of these activities were provided at no charge to the students or the school systems.
For more information about these and other STEM Day events and summer camps, contact Nancy Fitzgerald at nfitzgerald@southgatech.edu or call 229-931-2508.
