Building a solar battery-operated car, designing a dream house, constructing a shed, welding pieces of scrap metal together, and taking the crankshaft off of a car may sound like projects for experienced professionals.
But for middle school and high school students, these projects will be all in a day's work at the
Construction and Technology Camp at Delta College.
The camp -- sponsored by
Delta College,
MITECH Plus, and
Associated Builders and Contractors -- will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, July 19 through Thursday, July 22. Students who attend choose one of five areas to focus on during the four-day camp -- clean energy, computer-aided design (CAD), construction, welding, and automotive.
Designed to offer students hands-on experience, the camp exposes kids to different career paths and skills, says Donna Jo Varner, director of marketing and finance for MITECH Plus.
Within an hour and a half of the first day's session, kids who choose the welding section "have the welding sticks in their hand and they're learning and doing."
Kids who choose the clean energy section will build a wind-powered energy source, and learn about other clean-energy sources. Kids in the carpentry section build a shed that will go to a local non-profit. Kids in the CAD section design their dream house. Those in the automotive section learn a number of skills, including how to take a crankshaft apart and put it back together.
During the four-day camp, students also have a chance to talk to professionals working in these fields, Varner says.
If kids aren't exposed to these career options, they're not going to choose them, she says. And there is a real need for trained professionals in these middle skill jobs.
For more information or to register, visit the MITECH Plus
website. Cost of the camp is $195.
Writer: Jenny Cromie
Source: MITECH Plus, Donna Jo Varner
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