ROBBINSVILLE: Engineering camp builds bridges to future

By David Kilby, Special Writer
   ROBBINSVILLE — Middle school students had a blast, literally, at the school district’s summer camp program for aspiring scientists, inventors and engineers.
   Campers in grades four to six made model rockets that soared 250 feet, solar-powered cars and toothpick bridges during the weeklong camp led by Robbinsville High School teacher Scott Brettell at the high school.
   ”My grandpa was an engineer; he worked on NASA telescopes,” said camper Luke Delcampe, who will be a fourth-grader in September at Pond Road Middle School. “I’d like to be like him and see what engineering is like.”
   The Engineering Fun in the Sun camp was one of three offered last week by the Robbinsville Extended Day program. RED also ran reading and math enrichment camps called Quantum Leap, which offered third- through eighth-graders a teacher-supervised study hall environment for completing their school-assigned summer math and reading packets.
   Pam Elmi, director of RED, noted the engineering and Quantum Leap camps were offered at a time when many of the other summer camps in the area already have ended. The township Recreation Department’s various summer camps, which RED provided before- and after-care services for, as well as RED’s own Discover Kindergarten camps for preschoolers ended Aug. 10.
   Mr. Brettell told a visitor Aug. 14 that what his students enjoy most about engineering camp are the “hands-on activities, like building things, taking things apart and putting them back together.”
   ”This is basically the second day (of camp), and I’m yet to see anyone sit still,” Mr. Brettell said.
   Dan Baer, who will be a sixth-grader at Pond Road in September, was thoroughly enjoying the hands-on aspect of engineering camp.
   ”I like building stuff and finding out how to build stuff,” Dan said. “I’m thinking about building an airplane out of PVC pipe and duct tape.”
   Mr. Brettell and Ms. Elmi said the camp introduces younger students to the types of activities they will be doing in the two new pre-engineering classes at Pond Road Middle School. These middle school courses prepare the students for the more advanced engineering-related courses offered at the high school as part of the nationally recognized Project Lead the Way pre-engineering program.
   ”Engineering is very popular in Robbinsville High School,” Ms. Elmi said. “Our classes in high school are in high demand. So this (camp) is preparing kids at an early age.”
   Project Lead the Way is a four-year high school program that includes classes such as Introduction to Engineering Design; Computer Integrated Manufacturing; Principles of Engineering; and Digital Electronics. Students who pass the end of year PLTW national test are eligible to earn college credit for successfully completing the coursework.
   ”I know all the procedures and design processes you need in college,” said C.J. Gearhart, a rising senior who has been taking the PLTW engineering classes at RHS and was also Mr. Brettell’s volunteer assistant for the camp.
   Ms. Elmi said students who have taken PLTW courses have been accepted into prestigious universities.
   ”We have proven success of kids getting accepted into schools like MIT and Princeton because of these programs,” Ms. Elmi said.
   Every student project in PLTW classes at the high school culminates in a presentation so the sooner students can gain the hands-on experience and confidence in engineering, the better their final presentations will be, Mr. Brettell explained.
   ”I think it’s important that we offer these experiences at a younger age so when they get to high school, they’re ready to enter the (engineering) academy,” Mr. Brettell said.
   The model rockets the students made at the camp Aug. 14 kept them busy. They started the project with a piece of paper and gum tape (the tape used on envelopes), then used a plastic tube to mold the rocket into shape.
   Once the students got the right form for the rocket, they used card stock to keep the rocket straight. The campers then stuffed the rocket with a parachute and attached it to the rocket with a string. Next, they placed a tiny engine inside and attached a small tab that stuck out of the bottom of the rocket and served as an igniter. The rockets were launched from the athletic fields behind the school the next day.
   During the weeklong camp, Mr. Brettell touched on various aspects of the engineering field. Students made toothpick bridges to learn about the structural aspect of engineering; built model rockets to learn about aerospace; and made solar-powered model cars to learn about renewable energy. He also talked about related fields, such as electrical engineering and computer programming.