ALLISON T. WILLIAM/SUFFOLK NEWS-HERALD
allison.williams@suffolknewsherald.com

SUFFOLK
The Virginia STEAM Academy is expanding its summer camp programs this year, including offering one session just for girls.

The academy is offering three one-week camps focused on STEAM — an acronym for science, technology, engineering and applied mathematics — at colleges around Virginia, said Judy Stewart, president of the Virginia STEAM Academy.

Stewart and M. Caroline Martin, a former Riverside Health System executive and Suffolk First Citizen winner, founded the academy in 2010, with a goal of establishing a statewide residential high school that specializes in STEAM curricula.

The camps will be at Old Dominion, Washington and Lee and Shenandoah universities. Each will include a different focus, such as the environment, robotics, rockets, lights and lasers, computers or health.

Organizers planned the girls’ camp to boost female participation, Stewart said. She stressed that girls can apply and attend any of the camps.

“Oftentimes, girls excel at a higher rate when they are in an environment where then can share ideas and work together,” Stewart said.

It’s the fourth year the free Summer STEAM camps have been offered, she added.

Applicants should be rising sixth, seventh and eighth graders with interests in science, technology, engineering, or applied mathematics. The openings are for students in public and private schools, as well as homeschooled children.

The camp sessions being offered are July 10-16 at Old Dominion University in Norfolk; July 17-23 at Washington and Lee University in Lexington; and July 24-30 at Shenandoah University in Winchester (for girls only).

All applications must include a teacher recommendation and be received by March 30. The online application, as well as details on each camp, is available at www.vasteam.org/summer-steam. Mailed applications can be sent to the Virginia STEAM Academy, P.O. Box 324, Suffolk, VA 23439.

Decision letters will be sent out by April 29.

It can be competitive vying for the 180 camp openings, Stewart said.

“This is for students who love to wrestle with challenges and thrive on problem solving, design building and learning,” said Stewart. Students will spend roughly five hours a day in class.

In the past, roughly 70 percent of participants have come from Hampton Roads or Northern Virginia, Stewart said. She hopes a more aggressive marketing campaign to public and private schools and youth-related nonprofit organizations statewide will draw more students from other parts of Virginia.

“We have a nice mix … and each of the state’s eight school regions have been represented (at past camps), but it’s not equitable yet,” Stewart said.

The camps are paving the way for an eventual public boarding school for high school students focusing on STEAM curriculums, Stewart said. She hopes the academy will be able to move forward on a planned site at Fort Monroe, although an earlier lease agreement has expired.

The academy concept also includes online courses and professional development courses, both of which are in the works.

The academy will launch the online course in Henry County — an underserved area of the state — next year, Stewart said. The third component, professional development, is scheduled for later this year at the Science Museum of Virginia , she said.

Over the years, the Virginia Steam Academy has received $400,000 in grants from Virginia’s General Assembly. The organization has matched that funding with corporate donations and in-kind contributions, Stewart said.