STEM camp helps fuel imagination of local students

After taking apart a wind-up clock, Laila Gaines studies how the alarm mechanism works as she works on a treasure box project in teacher Dave Holland's classroom.

Creativity, ingenuity, teamwork and problem-solving skills were put to the test as local students participated in a program at Hacker Middle School that exposed them to various scientific principles through hands-on learning.

Marking its debut in Mountain Home last week, Camp Invention focused on inspiring future innovators by introducing participants to a number of problem-solving lessons and allowing them to develop and test inventions to overcome those challenges.

Geared for students preparing to enter kindergarten up to seventh grade, the five-day program was made possible through a grant from the Idaho STEM Action Center, which promotes the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The Mountain Home education workforce development committee and the city's economic development office worked together to secure the $6,000 grant to get the program started here.

Counselor Victoria Navarro-Chang helps Kayla Lenog use duct tape to create an invention during a Duct Tape Billionaire project.

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