OT: STEM Camps

[TrueMaroonGrind]

My daughter(4th grade) got a letter in the mail that a teacher nominated her for the National Youth Leadership Forum STEM Camp for next summer. It sounded kind of fishy to me. It’s like $3,500 for a week long camp and there’s a few weird Reddit threads and reviews.

All that to say, she was pretty excited about the idea of a STEM camp. I’d like to find something for her and keep that interest going. We’ve got family all over so honestly anywhere in MS we could make work. If y’all have any recent experiences or information I’d appreciate it.

 

[RocketDawg]

My daughter(4th grade) got a letter in the mail that a teacher nominated her for the National Youth Leadership Forum STEM Camp for next summer. It sounded kind of fishy to me. It’s like $3,500 for a week long camp and there’s a few weird Reddit threads and reviews.

All that to say, she was pretty excited about the idea of a STEM camp. I’d like to find something for her and keep that interest going. We’ve got family all over so honestly anywhere in MS we could make work. If y’all have any recent experiences or information I’d appreciate it.

You could try Space Camp. It's about $1500 for a week.

 

[johnson86-1]

My daughter(4th grade) got a letter in the mail that a teacher nominated her for the National Youth Leadership Forum STEM Camp for next summer. It sounded kind of fishy to me. It’s like $3,500 for a week long camp and there’s a few weird Reddit threads and reviews.

All that to say, she was pretty excited about the idea of a STEM camp. I’d like to find something for her and keep that interest going. We’ve got family all over so honestly anywhere in MS we could make work. If y’all have any recent experiences or information I’d appreciate it.

Not exactly the same thing but I know some schools with robotics programs will do robotics camps in the summer. Just day camps. I think that's basically Tupelo, madison, and coast schools. I think New Hope and Gulfport are the programs that get recognized nationally?

We had a teacher nominate a kid for one of the national youth leadership things and I wanted to smack her. What leadership has a 4th grader shown? First one in the class to stop picking their boogers? And they gave the nomination and packet directly to the kids, so parents have to explain they're not dropping $4k for them to go to a "youth leadership seminar" that is presumably at least partially staffed with a bunch of wannabe low rent Epstiens.

 

[Leeshouldveflanked]

Sounds like a bigger scam than travel ball.**

 

[Car Ramrod.sixpack]

MSU's College of Engineering offers some summer STEM programs. One of my nephews did one a few years back and it seems like it was a good exposure to engineering for him. Here is a link to fill out an interest form. Link

I think those National yada yada yada programs are a pyramid scheem and I believe the teachers get a kickback if their student attends the camp. I remember when I was in High School the big thing was some type of National Honor Society. You had to be nominated by your school but to be a member you had to buy some stupid book that listed all the members. If I remember correctly the book was a couple hundred bucks and the school received some type of incentive based on the number of students in the society attend their school.

 

[TrueMaroonGrind]

Not exactly the same thing but I know some schools with robotics programs will do robotics camps in the summer. Just day camps. I think that's basically Tupelo, madison, and coast schools. I think New Hope and Gulfport are the programs that get recognized nationally?

We had a teacher nominate a kid for one of the national youth leadership things and I wanted to smack her. What leadership has a 4th grader shown? First one in the class to stop picking their boogers? And they gave the nomination and packet directly to the kids, so parents have to explain they're not dropping $4k for them to go to a "youth leadership seminar" that is presumably at least partially staffed with a bunch of wannabe low rent Epstiens.

If you don’t lead out of the womb you are behind***

 

[patdog]

MSU's College of Engineering offers some summer STEM programs. One of my nephews did one a few years back and it seems like it was a good exposure to engineering for him. Here is a link to fill out an interest form. Link

I think those National yada yada yada programs are a pyramid scheem and I believe the teachers get a kickback if their student attends the camp. I remember when I was in High School the big thing was some type of National Honor Society. You had to be nominated by your school but to be a member you had to buy some stupid book that listed all the members. If I remember correctly the book was a couple hundred bucks and the school received some type of incentive based on the number of students in the society attend their school.

I got that letter when I was in high school. I threw it away.

 

[Maroon Pug]

My daughter(4th grade) got a letter in the mail that a teacher nominated her for the National Youth Leadership Forum STEM Camp for next summer. It sounded kind of fishy to me. It’s like $3,500 for a week long camp and there’s a few weird Reddit threads and reviews.

All that to say, she was pretty excited about the idea of a STEM camp. I’d like to find something for her and keep that interest going. We’ve got family all over so honestly anywhere in MS we could make work. If y’all have any recent experiences or information I’d appreciate it.

Space Camp in Huntsville. My coworker has a 4th grader and 5th grader and the amount of STEM activites and concepts they were exposed too really made a big difference on how they look at their classwork at school now.

 

[ZombieKissinger]

For $3500, I can get her a SixPack membership and start STEM posts every day for a week

 

[karlchilders.sixpack]

For $3500, I can get her a SixPack membership and start STEM posts every day for a week

Free Chat, Too.

 

[Bulldog45]

National Flight Academy NAS Pensacola

 

[Crazy Cotton]

Does MS have a governor's school or the like? I'd be looking at these more seriously once they've hit 8-10th grade, where there's the advantage of networking with professors etc. that may help if they're close to college. There's quite a few college's and universities that do these free or low cost for students closer to college as a recruiting tool to get top students to choose their program.

On the other hand, it gets the kid out of your hair and off the video games for a few weeks during the summer, and exposes them to some cool stuff, that can be worth it.

 

[FormerBully]

For $3500, I can get her a SixPack membership and start STEM posts every day for a week

Who needs STEM? At SixPack summer camp we teach you about real life. How to make it in these Mississippi streets when AI takes over.

 

[The Peeper]

I remember when I was in High School the big thing was some type of National Honor Society. You had to be nominated by your school but to be a member you had to buy some stupid book that listed all the members. If I remember correctly the book was a couple hundred bucks and the school received some type of incentive based on the number of students in the society attend their school.

That was called "Who's Who in American High Schools" in my day. My mom bought into it hook, line and sinker. I've still got the books around here somewhere. She thought I was a genius for making that book.............

 

[BigDogFan]

If you have anyone in the Vicksburg area the ERDC which is the research facility for the Corps of Engineers offers GEMS camps (free) each summer. These are through the Army Educational Outreach Program which also offers paid summer internships for students in high school and college. The GEMS camps are taught by engineers and scientists from the ERDC.

 

[GloryDawg]

I think the letter should go to the parent and not the student. They are putting parent in a bad spot. They may not have the money to send them and now they have to tell child no. It's hard to tell kids no on something they think is special.

 

[Dawgg]

I would say look for camps associated with schools or colleges. Those are going to be cheaper and legit. I’m not sure how many are around Mississippi, but that’s the first place to look. I’ve taken my son to quite a few around Texas and he’s always had a good experience.

Also, there are quite a few marketed specifically to girls due to the gender imbalance of engineering students.

I took my son on a campus visit to Texas Tech this weekend. They said the national average was 84% male / 16% female. Texas Tech Engineering is 80% male / 20% female.



ETA: Looks like Mississippi State offers a few:

Summer Engineering Academies

Registration is full. If you are interested in future summer academies, please complete the interest form. Please allow your email setting to receive emails from [email protected]. All communication regarding summer camps will be sent through [email protected] Registration for 2026 cam

www.bagley.msstate.edu

 

[MStateDawg]

My daughter has been to several summer camps at Mississippi State. She's been to the Engineering Camp and the Vet School Camp. She enjoyed both. I don't remember exactly what either costs, thus it couldn't have been very much (a couple hundred bucks probably)

 

[msualohadog]

We have several students attend both the MSU STEM Camp and the National Flight Academy in Pensacola. While I've never been to either, my students a) loved the MSU STEM camp and b) did not like the National Flight Academy - but only because they took the camper's phones. Literally; I had no interest in the NFA last summer because the students all said "it was fun, but they took our phones"...

 

[CochiseCowbell]

That was called "Who's Who in American High Schools" in my day. My mom bought into it hook, line and sinker. I've still got the books around here somewhere. She thought I was a genius for making that book.............

View attachment 954244

Yep, got that BS in Jr or Sr year. I thought it seemed dumb, but of course thought I was special as well. My father looked it over, half interested, when he got to the fee, he asked if I wanted to pay it. When I replied in the negative, he instructed me to throw it away.

 

[RocketDawg]

Space Camp in Huntsville. My coworker has a 4th grader and 5th grader and the amount of STEM activites and concepts they were exposed too really made a big difference on how they look at their classwork at school now.

My grandson went last year and loved it. He didn't go this past summer for Space Academy because of other activities, but probably will next summer. My son also went several years ago when he was in elementary school.

 

[dogmatic001]

MSU's College of Engineering offers some summer STEM programs. One of my nephews did one a few years back and it seems like it was a good exposure to engineering for him. Here is a link to fill out an interest form. Link

I think those National yada yada yada programs are a pyramid scheem and I believe the teachers get a kickback if their student attends the camp. I remember when I was in High School the big thing was some type of National Honor Society. You had to be nominated by your school but to be a member you had to buy some stupid book that listed all the members. If I remember correctly the book was a couple hundred bucks and the school received some type of incentive based on the number of students in the society attend their school.

I'm sorry to say they hoodwinked me on this one time when I was in grade school - sold my grandparents a yearbook-style list of names, of which mine was one of thousands.

I've always hoped the teachers who sold it got a kickback because, otherwise, the book company took all the loot for themselves.

 

[DerHntr]

I got that letter when I was in high school. I threw it away.

It must not have been a camp in Oxford**

 

[TrueMaroonGrind]

Thanks for all the recommendations. I completely forgot about space camp. The idea that space camp costs half of what this sketch program costs blows my mind.