Description
Level Up Your STEAM Skills!
Get ready for an epic adventure where creativity meets technology! It’s a world where gaming isn’t just play but a gateway to understanding complex computer science concepts and engineering design principles. This journey will not only fuel your imagination but also equip you with the skills to turn your most innovative ideas into reality. Here’s what’s in store for you:
Fall Semester: Design and 3D Print Board Games
Tap into your inner artist and engineer as you design your very own board games. But it doesn’t stop there – you’ll bring your creations to life with the magic of 3D printing. Your game nights will never be the same again!
Winter Semester: Code Minecraft Mini-Games
Enter the pixelated realms of Minecraft and become a game developer overnight. You’ll learn to code mini-arcade games that will challenge and delight. Share them with friends and watch as your digital playground comes to life.
Spring Semester: Create Retro Arcade Games
Travel back in time and experience the nostalgia of retro gaming – with a twist. You’ll code your own arcade games using Microbits and physical computing, blending the charm of the past with the innovations of the present. Plus, you’ll get hands-on experience with hand-held retro gaming systems to bring your creations to life.
This course isn’t just about playing games – it’s about creating them, understanding them, and making them a unique expression of your talent. So, gear up for an adventure where STEAM skills are your superpower, and the world of game design is your playground. Let’s level up together! 🚀🎓🕹️
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In-person Enrichment Program
Explore Up, Skill Up, and Build Up your child’s excitement for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, & Math (STEAM) and accelerate the preparation needed for their future via STEAMwhiz programs; all developed here locally in Guilderland, NY, by our very own expert STEAM-TEAM!!
- A 1 hr/week, in-person lab for 11-weeks per semester, that will stimulate your children to use and develop their analytical and critical thinking skills
- Min. 4 students/Max. 8 students
- An additional week is included for makeups. Bonus Lab if you make all days!
Capital District Kids!!
- Int/Adv ‘Thinkers & Doers’ ages 9-14 * Grouped developmentally
- Beginner ‘Thinker & Doer’ Labs (ages 6-8 yrs old)
- After school and Homeschool hours
- The STEAMwhiz Lab is located in Guilderland, NY
- 1 hours each week
- 11-weeks per semester
- 10 guided labs
- Additional bonus/make-up lab
Become the Problem Solvers of Tomorrow! Prepare them for their 21st future, not our past.
When students participate in STEAMwhiz Lab Programs they benefit in four main ways:
- STEM/STEAM Interest – Students become excited about STEM subjects and want to learn more about them.
- STEM/STEAM Confidence – Students gain confidence in their STEM skills and abilities.
- STEM/STEAM Competence – Students learn to think analytically and critically to solve problems.
- STEM/STEAM Value – Students learn the importance and relevance of STEM to themselves, others, and society.
STEAMwhiz can provide opportunities for your student to jump into STEM and explore their interests and passions with fun, hands-on, inquiry-based challenges like engineering 3D Printed Balloon Racers, designing apps and video games, and coding a robot. Interest in STEM begins in early childhood (between the ages of five and ten) and students who participate in programs, such as STEAMwhiz become more confident in their math and science abilities and are more interested in STEM subjects and careers.
The ‘STEAM’ Team
STEAM-Team or Dream Team? 😉 This lab is taught by STEAMwhiz’s lead educator Allie Pulecio. She is certified in K-6th education, international teaching experience, published STEM education work in a peer-reviewed journal, and has over 15 years of classroom experience and curriculum development. The lab is overseen by STEAMwhiz’s scientist Dr. Javier F. Pulecio (aka Dr. J) who holds a Ph.D. in Engineering Sciences has worked as a physicist at premier U.S. research institutions, as well as an engineer at fortune 100 companies, and authored over a dozen publications in top-tier journals. Together they are driven by their passion to empower students to develop their analytical and critical thinking, necessary to prepare them for the future.
Our Method of Success
Eliminate the fear and allow our children the time and space to fail forward and succeed. The STEAMwhiz Method will help students build their confidence in themselves and their abilities through discovery, tests, creation, and analysis. STEAMwhiz kids will be able to embrace the idea that failures lead to opportunities to learn and grow. STEM/STEAM learning experiences offer amazing opportunities to develop powerful GROWTH MINDSET attributes, which are pivotal for success!
Prior Knowledge
Each lab is built upon the other. Students will be given the time necessary to develop new connections resulting in new learning. When instruction is not jumping from one new thing to the next, students can develop goals, take on challenges, learn from mistakes, practice new skills, persevere, and ultimately create a culminating “Show-What-You-Know” PBL unit (project-based learning).
Project-Based Learning
Project-based learning empowers students to seize control over their learning experiences, following their interests and passions as they address a driving question or challenge; through investigation and inquiry; student voice and choice; reflection; revision; and finally, a project to be shared and celebrated. As students work with one another to create projects to share, they become responsible for the assessment of their work. Project-based learning frees students from the anxiety of meeting the expectations of school and/or instructors while allowing them the agency to create using the meaning they’ve developed from their experiences. This is a powerful re-imagination of what is possible!
