CHARLESTON, W.Va. –
WV STARBASE Charleston, a youth program located at McLaughlin Air National Guard Base in Charleston, West Virginia, is dedicated to giving students a hands-on experience in STEM. Every school year, STARBASE Charleston has around 2,000 5th graders from Kanawha and Putman counties participate in up to 25 hours of exploring science, technology, engineering, and math.
Over the summer, STARBASE Charleston includes not only 5th graders but also those ages 9-13 in a summer base camp for military and military authority dependents. This summer, located in the 130th Airlift Wing in Charleston, the Glen Jean Armory and Eleanor Armory, they held six different camps lasting a week each and hosted more than 84 students. Following their initiative to educate students in STEM, they engineered designs, watched and participated in making chemical reactions, learned to code robots, and tackled an escape room that involved math. The goal is making learning fun for the kid as well ask keeping them ready for the next school year.
During all these activities, campers also learned the differences between hydrophobic and hydrophilic substances, creating art based on these properties. They also experimented with a combination of chemicals that created something similar to paintballs that they were able to throw and create posters with the finished product, all while investigating chemical reactions.
“Camp STARBASE is a place where you can go and have fun, make new friends, and do science experiments," said camper Arianna Lyles. "They are the best science experiments I have ever seen.”
Not only does STARBESE Charleston hold summer camp on base, but they also play a large part in the West Virginia National Guard's summer programs and youth camp, Camp Conley, which takes annually at Camp Dawson in Kingwood, W.Va. During these camps, the students operated robots but also build and launch water rockets.
The program also runs advanced programs in Clay County, including a Drone Club at Clay County Middle School, where students learn to operate drones and compete with other schools.
To stay ahead in the ever-evolving field of STEM, STARBASE instructors participate in continuing education and outreach opportunities.
The West Virginia National Guard's Military Authority runs two STARBASE programs. STARBASE Charleston is located with the 130th Airlift Wing and STARBASE Martinsburg is located with the 167th Airlift Wing and services Jefferson and Berkeley County schools.
Follow the WV STARBASE Programs on social media:
www.facebook.com/wvstarbase
www.facebook.com/STARBASEMartinsburg