Abaco Students Get Future Ready Through STEM Camp

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ABACO, BAHAMAS – Young people in Abaco got hands-on experience with technology, from coding and 3D printing, to artificial intelligence.

It was all part of the Future Ready Bahamas camp, aimed at giving students new skills and exposing them to future opportunities.

Our Delvardo Emmanuel has the story.

They designed, built, coded and got their hands on technology that some of them had never used before.

The Future Ready Bahamas camp brought students together in Abaco, giving them a chance to learn more about engineering and technology by actually putting it to use.

Happy Humans Bahamas Program Director, Crachad Laing said the idea was to make it fun, while also showing them where those skills could take them.

“ The goal is, yes, exposure into the skill sets and the practices of these sorts of, um, technologies. We want them to have fun and be exposed and excited about the technology, but also understand what sort of opportunities lie within these skill sets and technologies.” – Crachad Laing

And there was plenty for them to try.

Students worked with 3D printers, learned the basics of computer-aided design, tried their hand at coding, and took on different building and problem-solving challenges.

But, it wasn’t only about learning how the technology worked.

The camp also got them thinking about what they could actually do with it.

That included a business component where students developed their own ideas and prepared to put them to the test.

“ At the end of the week, actually, they’re putting together these Shark Tank-like pitches where they’ll be showcasing and presenting various products that they would have designed throughout the week in front of the judges, getting scores and feedback in terms of what it is that they’ve done. And so there’s an exposure element where we want them to be aware of, hey, this is a thing. This is how people are using this thing.” – Crachad Laing

The idea was simple, give the students the tools, then let them figure out how those tools could be used to solve everyday problems or even create a business opportunity.

And for some of the campers, the experience introduced them to things they had never tried before.

Princess Forbes said one activity in particular stood out.

“ Since we don’t have stuff like this here, I’m kinda glad that we get to learn about it, because I feel like we actually really need stuff like this. Um, and one of my favorite highlights was the… was how I could make video games, because, like, I never actually, like, heard of anything like that before, and it was actually really fun,” – Princess Forbes

For Samuel Norris, it was his first STEM camp.

He got to build a model traffic light, drive spheros and even try out virtual reality.

“ We created a model of a traffic light, and this was a highlight for me. I enjoyed the whole experience of this camp. We got to do stickers, we got to drive Spheros. We even got to use Oculuses, and I am very thankful that they created this camp” – Samuel Norris