Pre-University Outreach Through a Space Camp and a Kirkness Discovery Camp

Abstract

Attracting high-school students to science,technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) shouldbe easy today, but it is not in practice. Universities andorganizations such as the Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) have invested much effortand implemented many useful mechanisms to increase theenrollment, including open house events, teaching teachersdays, IEEE’s Teachers In Service Program (TISP), IEEE’sEngineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS), aswell as IEEE’s TryEngineering, TryComputing, andTryNano. We have developed a number of new initiatives toaddress the problem in Manitoba, and feel that theapproach can be used elsewhere.This paper describes two such initiatives: a spacecamp for high-school students grade 9 to 11, and the VernaKirkness Program (VKP) discovery camp for Indigenoushigh-school students. The first camp was offered severaltimes already, while the second camp was delivered for thefirst time in 2013.