Co-presented by Navigate and NIC, robot summer camps allow students, aged 9 to 12, to explore coding and robotics while learning vital science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills.
Project Dates: July 2016 – 2019
Funding Amount: $169,750
Students Hired: 3
The kids are learning great skills – valuable skills they can take into the future. It’s a wonderful opportunity.
Maureen Vancoughnett, 2018 participant parent
Project Summary
Over 700 students have had the opportunity to build, program and control Lego robots over the past three summers. Students participated in the camps from Port Alberni, the Comox Valley, Port Hardy, Campbell River, Tofino, Ucluelet and new this year, Gold River.
Students learned vital science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills, required for many careers. We also expanded on these valuable STEM skills by offering two additional new technology camps called the Tech Explorers Camp.
Project Outcomes
Total number of student participants each year:
Instructors
Andrew Gair, Lego Robotics Instructor
Andrew is currently studying Computer Science at VIU, he has competed at several international VEX robotics tournaments over the past few years and has won several awards in the process. Andrew's first robotics course was in grade 8 and used Lego Mindstorms robots.
Mitchell Gair, Lego Robotics Instructor
Mitchell Gair has been a robotics instructor with NIC Robotics summer camps for three years and is very enthusiastic about expanding the reach and the complexity of these camps. His history in Robotics didn't begin until he began to compete in Vex Robotics competitions in grade 11. He is currently studying Mathematics and Computing Science at Vancouver Island University as a full time student.
Meiko Matsumoto, Tech Explorers Instructor
Teagan Parkin, Student Assistant
Teagan Parkin is a first-year science student at NIC in UVic Dual Admission. She has been involved in robotics for 6 years and competed multiple times at the provincial level. She enjoys passing her love of STEM onto the next generation, as her teachers did for her.
Co-presenter
Funding Partners
Past Partners
Canadian Internet Registration Authority
North Vancouver Island Aboriginal Training Society
Yuu-tu-it-ath
Videos
2017 Video
2016 Video
Shaw TV: Lego Robotics Port Alberni
Contact
April Whalen
Administrative Support, Centre for Applied Research, Technology and Innovation