Making summer learning fun

08/13

This summer, more than 2,000 middle, high school and community college students got a chance to learn about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) during TI-sponsored tours and camps. Click here to see a slideshow.

This summer tours and camps that TI sponsored or participated in provided more than 2,000 middle, high school and community college students opportunities to learn about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) while having fun.

Many of the summer programs were geared toward women or underrepresented minorities, such as the Girl Scouts of North Texas "College Journey" and Frank Greene Scholars program. As in past years, TI partnered with a number of nonprofits and universities to get more of these students interested in STEM.

"These students are creative, great innovators and problem solvers but today are significantly underrepresented in STEM careers," said Trisha Cunningham, TI's Chief Citizenship Officer. "We want them to know about the exciting opportunities they can have to significantly impact our world when they're equipped with STEM skills."

Dozens of TI employees volunteered this year to make the experiences meaningful and relevant to students.

What students learned Students who attended the Future Focus camps were excited about what they learned during their visit to TI. Here are some examples of the impact: "I could really identify with Mr. George because my family situation was similar to his and his experience gives me hope for the future." –Brenda "This is the first time I thought about how technology could impact health care.  I’m excited that there could be in-home applications because my grandfather has heart problems."  –Lucy, upon seeing the heart monitor application "I had not previously considered any technology careers, but I’m interested after seeing how much TI employees enjoyed their jobs." –Rebecka Rodrigo made a connection between the Kilby lab and the Iron Man lab and learned that the Iron Man lab was partially based on a real person named Tesla and that much of the technology is currently in existence. Ladarian did a Future Focus free-style rap after the program and incorporated things he learned about technicians at TI. Jackson got on his iPhone and was researching purchase of a Launchpad before the group returned to the school.

"Employees around the world enhance TI's investment in summer camps and other programs with their volunteer time," said Joan Scott, TI director of community relations in Santa Clara, California. "TI engineers create the curriculum and hands-on activities for the Frank Greene Summer Science Institute held annually at TI's Santa Clara site. Having the TI employees involved as instructors and mentors is a great benefit to the students as well as to the participating engineers."

Nancy Change of TI Microcontroller Business Unit (MCU) Strategic Marketing added: "I had a lot of fun organizing the tour with the team and getting the opportunity to showcase TI to the high school students. It's always exciting when future generations are eager to learn about the technology that we live and breathe."

Educators also expressed appreciation for TI employees' personal involvement.

Jeff Goins, Program Services Specialist with Eastfield College, credited TI with "impacting the future academic and professional lives of our students" and said, "Our trip to TI's DLP facility was a great success. It exposed our students to many career opportunities that they may have been unaware, including specific interesting tasks within those careers. Having an Eastfield College alumnus host us and showcase his relevant work and how his experience at Eastfield fit into his work made the connection between where our students are presently and their future careers much closer and attainable."