Education

For These Kansas City Kids, Summer Camp Is All About Engineering

KCUR | By Elle Moxley

Published June 23, 2017 at 11:02 AM CDT

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The girls participating in the Summer Engineering Experience for Kids (SEEK) camp cheer on their fellow campers.

Elle Moxley / KCUR 89.3

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Campers got a chance to test their STEM knowledge by designing and building catapults for an engineering competition.

Elle Moxley / KCUR 89.3

“Let’s go divas, let’s go!” the girls chant, before dissolving into giggles.

On the last day of a Kansas City Public Schools-sponsored summer camp, students cheer on their friends in an engineering challenge.

These kids @kcpublicschools engineering summer camp are seeing how far they can get their catapults to travel. Smarter than me! pic.twitter.com/DkWY3dhjpQ
— Elle Moxley (@ellemoxley) June 23, 2017

KCPS partnered with the National Society of Black Engineers to put on the three-week Summer Engineering Experience for Kids. It was free to attend for third through fifth grade students in the metro.

Daud Foster, 10, will be a fifth grader at Hazel Grove Elementary in Lee’s Summit next year. He says his favorite part was building his vocabulary.

Daud Foster, 10, says he wants to be an engineer when he grows up. He's enjoyed learning science vocabulary words like 'fuselage' and 'velocity.'

“Last week we did gliders,” he says. “My favorite vocab word from that week was fuselage. The fuselage is the body of an aircraft.”

The goal was to help kids learn how to solve problems using science and math concepts.

“I want to be an engineer when I grow up,” Foster says.

Elle Moxley covers Missouri schools and politics for KCUR. You can reach her on Twitter @ellemoxley.