STEM education delivers more than science and math.
Our curriculum builds the skill sets a modern world actually needs — and it is taught by working teachers and university faculty, on a real campus, with real instruments.
Four days that change how a student sees science — and themselves
Twenty-first-century skills include media and technology literacy, productivity, communication, flexibility and initiative. STEM education adds problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, curiosity, decision-making, leadership and a tolerance for failure.
Whatever career a student eventually chooses, those skills prepare them to be innovative and contributing members of society — which is why STEM sits squarely inside Rotary International’s principles.
Research from the University of Virginia’s School of Education found that a lack of science engagement in childhood carries forward into adulthood — and that camps, competitions and workshops outside school measurably improve engagement. That finding is the reason this program is a residency.
Intentional Learning Experiences
The programs that engage students most effectively share five characteristics. Every session in our curriculum is built around them.
Mission to Mars
Originally a SETI Institute curriculum, reworked by our own faculty. Students work in teams across four days toward a single deliverable: a model Mars habitat they design, build and then defend to their parents at the Celebration Dinner.
Taught by working teachers, not counselors
Every daytime session is led by a certified middle school science teacher — people who do this for a living, most with two decades or more in the classroom. Faculty rotates each year; these are our 2027 instructors.
The relationships that make it possible
Kutztown University
Residence halls, dining and science buildings for the full four days — plus faculty who open their labs and instruments to twelve-year-olds.
The SETI Institute
Origin of the science curriculum, adapted each year by our own faculty to fit four days and a middle school audience.
JPL interns & alumni
Kutztown students who have worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory return to walk our students through real mission decisions.
A four-day, three-night residential STEM academy for nominated 7th graders, funded by the Rotary Clubs of District 7430 and hosted at Kutztown University. Funds are administered by the Allentown West Rotary Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3).
