NUWC Division Keyport, local Navy units host virtual STEM camp

Photo By Shayna Gosney | 201013-N-MV201-002 KEYPORT, Wash. (Oct. 13, 2020) - Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics kits, assembled by U.S. Navy employees, are ready to be distributed to local schools and families. The STEM Kit program has been ongoing for about 13 years. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Keyport (Keyport, Washington) and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility (Bremerton, Washington) employees were innovative in providing kits by hosting pickup and virtual events aimed at keeping students excited about learning. (U.S. Navy photo by Shayna Gosney/ Released)  

KEYPORT, WA, UNITED STATES

08.17.2021

Story by Lonnie Collier 

Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Keyport

NUWC Division Keyport and multiple Navy organizations teamed up to host a virtual Navy Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics summer camp Aug. 10-12.

The camp served about 200 students in Kitsap County ranging from third to eighth grade.

“Navy STEM camp is the result of the successful partnership between the education STEM teams at Puget Sound Navy Museum, U.S. Naval Undersea Museum, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, and NUWC Division Keyport,” said Carolyn Lane, Puget Sound Navy Museum Education director. “These four organizations have been working together to better serve students around the Kitsap Peninsula since 2014.”

The Navy virtual STEM camp is a three-day experience designed to foster creativity, problem solving and STEM-thinking in a way that raises awareness of the Navy’s reliance on STEM concepts to carry out their mission.

Upon signing up, students received project materials and assignments to complete at camp under the mentorship of Navy instructors.

“The camp includes kids of parents who work at NUWC Keyport and PSNS & IMF, and students from Forks, Chimacum and Tacoma, and some of the other outlying areas,” said Sam De Lano, NUWC Division Keyport STEM outreach coordinator. “All materials were procured by the Navy and provided to student participants at no cost.”

Navy STEM camp is an opportunity for kids to connect with STEM and the Navy in a fun, positive way, he said. Comprehensive STEM education of today’s youth is vital to building a strong Navy tomorrow.

“The Navy team developed experiments to encourage confidence and success in a variety of different Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematic fundamentals. In addition to being educational, each activity needed to be fun and engaging,” De Lano added.

As another way to grow interest in STEM disciplines during the pandemic, families also received thousands of STEM kits at Curbside STEM events around Naval Base Kitsap.

About Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Keyport
NUWC Keyport provides technical leadership, engineering expertise, and unique facility complexes that serve to ensure sustainment of undersea warfare superiority for the United States. As one of two divisions of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Keyport’s mission is focused on developing and applying advanced technical capabilities to test, evaluate, field, and maintain undersea warfare systems and related defense assets. These advanced technical capabilities directly support the full spectrum of Navy undersea programs.

• Date Taken: 08.17.2021
• Date Posted: 08.17.2021 19:23
• Story ID: 403378
• Location: KEYPORT, WA, US
• Hometown: KEYPORT, WA, US
• Hometown: MILLINGTON, TN, US
• Hometown: NEWPORT, RI, US
• Hometown: WASHINGTON NAVY YARD, DC, US