This summer has been STEM-tastic, for local scout, Marco J. Martin. During the summer of 2018, Marco spent countless hours working on the Boy Scouts of America NOVA and Supernova STEM program and on Friday, June 14, 2019 all of his hard work was recognized when he received the Dr. Luis Alvarez Supernova medal, a plaque, a NOVA patch and a variety of congratulatory letters from his Senator, Congressman and County Executive to mark this momentous occasion. What an awesome way to begin a STEM-tastic Summer.
His next STEM adventure would take place as he participated in his first Cub Scout Summer Day Camp in Hughesville, MD at the Kings Landing National Park. He had an opportunity to present a STEM project to his fellow Scouts and complete the NOVA section: Uncovering the Past with the help of his camp Den Leader, Amanda Zimmerman.
Once Cub Scout Camp came to a close, he continued to explore the world of STEM by attending a STEM Fair at the Community Center in Alexandria, VA which was sponsored by an organization named Fly Minds. At this event, he was the grand prize winner of a STEM door raffle. He won his very own VEX Robot. Later in the summer, he attended 2 of 3 free STEM Day programs by Fly Minds where he was a part of team that built and programmed their own robot. Now that’s cool!!
Just when you thought his STEM-TASTIC Summer couldn’t get any better, a new STEM Scout unit was forming in Alexandria, VA which he became a part of. His Cub Scout Pack 539 was taking a break during the summer and his STEM Scout unit Lab 9941 led by Burt Wagner was just getting off the ground. His new uniform was a lab coat, disposal gloves and rubber goggles. The first three weeks his unit did science experiments that made Slime, a Bouncy Ball and Silly Sand. Each experiment required Marco and his lab mates to read lab instructions, gather the necessary ingredients and mix various items to get different results as the project called for. It was funny watching the kids learn by measuring and modifying the experiments to see if more or less of an item made a difference towards the end result.
Marco’s last STEM adventure for the Summer would involve the DMV NSBE Jr Chapter located at Howard University. He became a new member and membership has privileges. During the school year, he will be a member of the Lego Robotics team. Each weekend, he will have the chance to learn Spanish and work on Advance mathematics. What I thought was the coolest thing that NSBE Jr had to offer was Marco could talk to an Astronaut and get all of his science and space questions answered.
STEM summer days are over and Prince George’s County schools are be back in session. Hopefully, this article will encourage other Scouts to learn more about STEM and to see what activities occur during the school year! Have a STEM-TASTIC day!