SPRINGFIELD, Vt. – The halls and labs at River Valley Technical Center (RVTC) are quiet for the summer, after a week full of buzz from the students attending 2023’s RVTC Tech Camp. This year, middle school aged students from nine regional schools came together to participate in programs such as LEGO FIRST Robotics, Minecraft and Coding, Shark Tank, Forensic Science, and Crowdsourced Cinema. RVTC’s partners, the American Precision Museum and Springfield Area Public Access TV (SAPA TV) offered some amazing programs for students as part of the camp. SAPA worked with the students on recreating a scene from the movie “Toy Story.” Students created sets, set up lighting, mixed sound, and acted to create a clip that will be used as part of the Crowdsourced Cinema VT project. At the American Precision Museum in Windsor, Vt., students were immersed in the history of manufacturing and engineering. Students worked on a collaborative egg drop challenge at the museum to practice their engineering and design skills.
Here on campus, students created a product, came up with their target audience, and made a pitch to their group to see whose product would be funded, and whose wouldn’t make the cut in Shark Tank. Students learned how to solve crimes using basic forensic science in the criminal justice program, made ice cream by hand (or foot) using tin cans in culinary, created mousetrap-powered cars in RVTC’s makerspace, and learned new coding skills as they explored using Minecraft for Education.
“We were very excited to be able to offer camp at no cost to all families this year, thanks to grants and donations,” said Kelly Broker-Campbell, camp director. “Grants came from the Vermont Agency of Education Perkins Grant and FIRST in VT Robotics. As part of the FIRST in VT grant, RVTC was supplied with LEGO FIRST Spark kits that we are using at camp, and can be used in our robotics club next year.”
Camp would also not be possible without the support of Bellows Falls Trades, a local nonprofit organization, whose mission is to support work-based learning experiences by partnering with schools and local experts in real world projects to generate positive benefits for young adults and economic development for their community at large. Bellows Falls Trades worked with RVTC and the Bellows Falls Middle School to help arrange transportation and lunches for all Bellows Falls students attending camp. They also made a generous donation to help support the camp.
Thank you to all partners, instructors, parents, and students for helping to make RVTC Tech Camp 2023 a huge success.
For more information about the River Valley Technical Center and its partners, go to www.rvtc.org.