The “curriculum of the future” will be delivered through fun and competitive challenges as part of an upcoming summer camp.

The STEM Summer Camp, co-created by tutoring resource Pangaea Educational Services and mentoring charity Impact Mentoring Academy, focuses on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and incorporates activities including laser tag, field trips, swimming, sand castle competitions and app building.

Students will have the opportunity to practice coding as well as participate in a budgeting competition that can earn them prizes.

Kyrsten Burrows, head counsellor for the camp, said: “Teams of three students will be given an initial budget of 50,000 ‘STEM bucks’, which will allow them to bid on projects and purchase materials from the camp’s supply store.

“We plan to challenge our students’ ingenuity, resource management, and co-operation through a team competition of who can finish each camp with the greatest amount of STEM bucks. As a reward, the winning teams will be given prizes for their efforts.

“In addition each week, our students will practice an hour of coding. They will learn the fundamentals of code such as conditionals, loops and constructing their own programs.”

Nathan Atcheson, marketing and HR assistant at Impact, added: “We believe that STEM education is the curriculum of the future. We view this camp as an extension of our school year programme, and hope that it can be a useful way to keep students creatively engaged over the summer months.

“We feel this is especially important this summer, following the disrupted school year that students have experienced due to the Covid-19 pandemic."

There are two camps – one on Applied Sciences and Technology from July 12 to 28 and a second that focuses on Sustainability in Bermuda from August 2 to 26.

They are aimed at boys and girls aged from 10 to 16 and run from 9am to 3.30pm daily.

Mr Burrows emphasised that STEM is playing an increasing role in future careers. He added: “Integrating understanding of these concepts is paramount in the positioning of Bermuda’s youth.

“Key STEM skills such as coding, mathematical reasoning and computer competency will play integral roles in the emerging careers of the future. Although there have been existing efforts towards STEM education in our community, none have been carried out in such a unique and engaging fashion.

“I believe this will be an exciting experience for all prospective students of our camp.”

After camp care is also available.

Register via: www.impactbda.com