UAM hosts pilot camp for underserved students to encourage STEM interest
"Most of these kids have not been around forestry or animal science. All of this is new,” Brenette Wilder said. “Minorities are not represented in this area. They do not realize the opportunities for careers in this area, and we want to expose them to this.”
July 28, 2022
By Lon Tegels
College of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources
University of Arkansas at Monticello
Arkansas Forest Resources Center
U of A System Division of Agriculture
Fast facts
- UAM hosts pilot STEM camp
- STEM camp targets underserved youth
- Exposure to STEM key to student success, organizers say
(800 words)
(Newsrooms: Download relatedPHOTOS, Video link https://youtu.be/i5OZ-2YvaW0
A longer version of this story is available from Lon Tegels;
SUBS 24th graf to CORRECT 'Brenda' to 'Brenette')
MONTICELLO, Ark. — To show that math has real-world applications, Michael Blazier posed a problem to a group of high school students: "How do you calculate the amount of usable wood that can be extracted from a forest?"
"Imagine going out to 200 acres of forest with a million plus trees on it,” he said. “You can't measure every one of them, so what we do is take a sample of them.”
From that, Blazier, dean of the College of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, demonstrated how simple mathematical formulas can be used to solve what seem to be vast problems.
Blazier and six faculty members spent eight days this summer to be part of UAM’s STEM, or Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Camp, a pilot program offered in conjunction with the Kansas City Teen Summit. The summit’s mission is to work within rural and urban communities to provide the best benefits in areas of youth empowerment, STEM education, summer youth internships, community beautification, volunteerism, helping the disadvantaged, and etiquette training.
KCTS President Brenette Wilder sees this camp as a way to give back. Wilder is a University of Arkansas graduate with a degree in chemical engineering. She is from Altheimer, and her husband, is from Wilmot, both in southeastern Arkansas.
"My goal is to give back to the community of Wilmot,” she said. “STEM was a subject that kids were not introduced to in a hands-on way. We want our kids to be exposed to STEM opportunities both inside and outside the classroom.
“If I can do it, they can do it,” Wilder said. “And I want them to see that STEM is fun. It doesn't have to be seen as too tech or too challenging. They can do it if they have an interest in it.”
Smart kids
This year’s students were all from Hamburg High School. They are:
- India Campbell, 9th grade
- Kylan Galloway, 11th grade
- A'layshia Dunn, 9th grade and
- Za Kiyah Diggs, 9th
“They are smart kids with 3.0 to 3.9 GPAs or better,” Wilder said.
Campbell said she wants to be a marine biologist.
"The instructors have been really cool,” Campbell said. “They are good at explaining things so we can understand. It's a cool program; it is good stuff to experience.”
Galloway said he wants to be a video game developer, barber, or maybe a chiropractor.
"When it came to the land survey," Kylan said, "it was interesting."
While he said he didn’t see a career in agriculture or surveying he did say that moving cattle from pasture to pasture and calling the cattle were highlights.
Of the camp, Galloway said “I would recommend it. We got a lot done in the amount of time we had."
Pilot program
"This is a pilot scale program this year; we had a small class every day for the last two weeks,” Blazier said. “We participated in Kansas City Teen Summit in hopes this will general enough interest that it will build this program upward.
“I think it's a very important initiative to reach out to underserved students because we want to make sure our students in the college at the University of Arkansas at Monticello are reflective of the society we operate in,” Blazier said.
Other UAM faculty and instructors participating in this year's summer 2022 STEM camp:
- Animal Science — Greg Montgomery, farm manager
- Data Analysis — Jolene Hammock, outreach and engagement coordinator
- Dendrology — Bobby Webb, university forest manager
- Forestry — Blazier, dean
- Geospatial Science/Drones — Hamdi Zurqani, assistant professor of geospatial science in natural resource management and conservation
- Land Survey — Robert Blakeley, surveying instructor
- Wildlife Management — Don White, James White endowed professor
Each faculty member met with the students daily from 10:15 am to 1:30 pm.
"Most of these kids have not been around forestry or animal science. All of this is new,” Wilder said. “Minorities are not represented in this area. They do not realize the opportunities for careers in this area, and we want to expose them to this.”
"One of the things I was trying to emphasize is it's great to be in the classroom, but it's even better to have hands-on opportunities,” she said
“In animal science, to be able to touch, and be a part of that and in forestry to measure a tree instead of just enjoying the shade of it,” Wilder said.
"We hope that our kids find an interest in UA Monticello here that they may even want to come here to pursue their careers. It would be fantastic to bring their high school learning back to where it started,” she said.
The STEM Camp was partly underwritten by the National Wildlife Federation and the Arkansas Wildlife Federation. For information on the STEM Camp, you can call UAM College of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources at 870-460-1053 or email at CFANR@uamont.edu. Brenette Wilder can be reached at 816-287-2167. Email at wilderbrenette@gmail.com. The Kansas City Teen Summit web page is www.kansascityteensummit.org.
About the College of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Arkansas Forest Resources Center
The College of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources, and the Arkansas Forest
Resources Center, a University of Arkansas System Center of Excellence, brings together
interdisciplinary expertise through a partnership between the University of Arkansas
at Monticello and the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
The College and Center are headquartered at the University of Arkansas at Monticello
campus, but their programs range statewide with the mission of developing and delivering
teaching, research, and extension programs that enhance and ensure the sustainability
and productivity of forest-based natural resources and agricultural systems. Academic
programs are delivered by the College of Forestry, Agriculture, and Natural Resources
through the University of Arkansas at Monticello. Through the University of Arkansas
System Division of Agriculture, research is administered by the Arkansas Agricultural
Experiment Station, and extension and outreach activities are coordinated by the Arkansas
Cooperative Extension Service.
The University of Arkansas at Monticello and the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offer all of their programs to all eligible persons without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and are Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employers.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture's mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation's historic land grant education system.
The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
# # #
Media contact: Lon Tegels tegels@uamont.edu 870-460-1852