By Jade Kim, Administrative and Operations Coordinator
This summer, while most students were taking a break away from academics, hundreds of male middle school students from underrepresented groups were preparing themselves to become the STEM leaders of tomorrow.
Student at Virginia State University works on creating his own superhero bracelet
Through the Verizon Innovative Learning for Minority Males initiative, students spent a few weeks out of their summer diving head-first into all things STEM at historically black colleges and universities as well as Hispanic serving institutions across the country.
Students with their mentors at North Carolina A&T University
Students were able to explore everything from the fundamentals of mobile app development and 3D modeling and printing, to engineering, robotics, and computer science. Upon completing the program, many proud parents were pleased to discover a heightened enthusiasm for STEM amongst their students.
“The [North Carolina A&T Verizon Innovative Learning] program has made such a tremendous impact on my son! The program has solidified his decision to study chemistry at the BEST university in the WORLD – NC A&T State University!” said parent Nicole Piggott.
Assistant program director, Kofi Frazeur, at Howard University shows students how to use a virtual reality headset
The mentors went above and beyond just teaching students the STEM basics; they also emphasized personal growth and development.
“We have the best mentors ever,” said Victoria Lyons of Morgan State University.
The learning does not stop there, however. The students will go on to continue the VILMM camps during the 2018-19 academic year. Stay tuned to hear about what else they accomplish!
To read more about Base 11’s partnership with Verizon, click here.