Students Learn Ways to Change the Future at MCC Technology Camp

Maggie Plante hard at work.

Manchester, CT – (August 14, 2012)… Cars without wheels were moving freely over the ground, and a wide variety of things electric were humming along under solar power as 64 high-achieving students, grade levels 5 through 8, spent time on the Manchester Community College campus this summer learning how they can use technology to help change the future.

For the last five years, MCC’s Excursions in Learning Summer enrichment programs for inquisitive minds has offered Technology Camp for high-achieving students in grades 5 through 8. Tuition was subsidized by the Regional Center for Next Generation Manufacturing, a National Science Foundation grant under the Connecticut Community Colleges’ College of Technology.

This year, in addition to the popular “Lego Robotics” and “Explorations in Aerodynamics,” which constitute Technology Camp I, the college offered a Technology Camp II that included two new courses to encourage students to use their imaginations to change the future: “Going Green with Technology” provided first-hand experience designing and building models of solar-powered vehicles or wind-driven or geothermal power stations. Then the “Magnetic Levitation and Hovercraft” class explored how to design and build a model of a hovercraft using magnetic levitation (mag-lev).

The students said they enjoyed the opportunity to make a lot of cool stuff. “Making my mag-lev vehicle was fun and it was a good educational experience,” said student Alexandra Reeves, whose favorite subject in school is math. “I enjoy technology and science, and I think being green is very important.”

Student Maggie Plante, who likes art and science, said she chose to participate in Technology Camp I as well as II this summer, “Because they told me about how to do technology.”

Mary Jane Plante, Maggie’s mother, was pleased to see her daughter express an interest in MCC’s Technology Camp. “In a world filled with technology, girls need to know there is no limit to what they can contribute,” she said. “MCC provides the fundamentals girls need in a relaxed, educational environment and encourages them at a very early age to succeed.”

For more information on Technology Camps I and II and MCC’s other Excursions in Learning programs, contact Carleigh Cappetta, at 860-512-2804, or email ccappetta@manchestercc.edu. Check out the MCC Excursions in Learning website at www.manchestercc.edu/continuing/excursions.

Students of any age who possess the desire to pursue higher education are welcome at Manchester Community College. MCC is proud of its academic excellence, new facilities, flexible schedules, small classes, low tuition and faculty with both academic and “real world” credentials. The college offers over 60 programs, transfer options, financial aid and scholarships, as well as access to baccalaureate degrees through guaranteed admissions programs with several universities. MCC is situated on a park-like campus and is easily accessible from I-84.

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