NNS Supports Local STEM Summer Camp

Volunteers from Huntington Ingalls Industries' Newport News Shipbuilding division are trading in their safety gear for school gear this summer at the STEM Summer of Innovation Academy.

Helping students explore future careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields, NNS volunteers are working with Newport News Public Schools (NNPS) to get students excited about math and science.

Hosted July 8 through Aug. 1, 2013 by the 21st Century Community Learning Center and Heritage High School Governor's STEM Academy, the camp exposes rising 7th through 9th graders to different STEM topics through the help of local business volunteers.

John Banks Sr., an electrical engineer at NNS, is helping students experience engineering in the classroom through building robots. "Working with the talented and gifted youth of the STEM Summer of Innovation Academy gives me an opportunity to feed into the innovators of tomorrow and be fed in return through lively conversations with the youth while tackling robotic and electronic challenges," Banks said. "Each student brings a new light, new idea and vision to our team that renews my pride as a NNS engineer to think bigger, dream bigger and remember that there are no limits to what can be achieved with strong will and determination."

NNS' volunteers have supported the academy since its inception in 2012 by providing students with real-world work expertise through partnered teaching. Spending time at Heritage High with the students, the volunteers are able to emphasize the importance of STEM in the shipbuilding industry and expose students to future careers.