April - Not just Summer Camp
Not Just Summer Camp
Not Just Summer Camp
The average person hears Destination Exploration, and they think, “oh yeah, the people who do the science camps at the university”. While this is true, it’s only scratching the surface of everything DE has to offer.
Yes - we run camps two months of the year, but there is always something happening for the other ten months. From after-school clubs, teacher PD, family events and we can’t forget our Traveling Lab Coats, there is always STEM happening.
DE’s Year-Round Programming
Once the school day ends, the fun at DE begins! We have been running after-school clubs (like our FriYAY club) for 15 years. We love the club format because your kids get to come back week after week to explore something new with our instructors and their new friends. We’ve had clubs like Science Magic, CoderGirl, and Mindcraft club to name a few. But that’s only what happens on campus! What about clubs like Science Sizzle or the Arconic STEM club? These clubs facilitated by our instructors bring STEM right into your school to provide the opportunity for all.
After our Fall and Winter club season, we shift into Traveling Lab Coats in the spring! This time of year, your kids are still in school, but our undergraduate instructors are ready to start their summer jobs. Teams head out into the community to bring exciting hands-on STEM workshops to classrooms. As the name suggests our teams travel across Southern Alberta to towns as far as Lundbreck, Stavely, Bow Island, and Milk River!
Then our famous summer camps take center stage as the weather gets warmer. Rounding out our year of programming year after year.
DE Programs with Community Partners!
We know that committing to a term of club or week of summer camp is hard with busy schedules, and that’s why we work with community partners to bring you special events throughout the year too!
In 2019 we worked with Pratt & Whitney Canada to offer three Family STEM Nights! They are a huge supporter of STEM education and some of their employees were able to join and bring some engine parts for us to take a closer look at.
Kawneer, who is a part of the Arconic umbrella, has been able to share their stories with our Arconic STEM Club participants at the club’s year-end STEM Day. This day also includes collaboration with the City of Lethbridge and Galt Museum to show junior high students the possibilities STEM can lead to after graduation.
Have you participated in the Mini Tech-Heads club or picked up a STEM Explorers bag from the Lethbridge Public Library? We work with their team to offer accessible programs to our local families. You may have even seen us at the Pincher Creek Annex Maker Space or the Fort MacLeod and Carmangay Library! We love being able to bring our activities to different sites throughout the year.
DE Programs with Schools
The University of Lethbridge can be intimidating for those with limited or no connections to it. Our goal is to use our programs to help students gain familiarity with campus. Since 2012 we have worked with the students and teachers of Napi’s Playground and Piikani Secondary School to offer opportunities to visit campus. We make sure to always do a fun and engaging STEM activity and give them time to explore the U of L and meet with other Indigenous leaders and mentors that can help build their confidence in pursuing post-secondary education.
In the last year, we have worked closely with the staff at Our Lady of the Assumption to help them reach their goal of becoming a STEAM-focused school. Providing their staff training on how to utilize tech tools within their classes and bringing our equipment to switch up their monthly STEM days.
DE Programs and WIL Experiences
All these great programs are what we offer our community, but Destination Exploration is also an incredibly valuable Work Integrated Learning experience for our staff. While not the typical work environment, working with DE provides our students with situations to improve many of the soft skills that are crucial to success in their future careers. Team building, public speaking, communication skills, and problem-solving are just to name a few of the skills all our instructors build on.
Instructors can choose to use their work experience at Destination Exploration to complete Applied Studies courses and even Co-op terms! These opportunities allow them to gain university credit while working for DE. They can apply what they are learning in the classroom to their employment and vice versa. The work experience at DE brings their academic learnings to life and provides life-long learnings that can be applied to their future careers. Many students who work with DE are hired into full-time careers upon graduation and note that their time with DE played a large role in that process.
All in all, it is never a dull moment here at DE. Over the last 20 years we’ve grown into the program we are today, and we are so proud to be able to deliver STEM programs to such a wide range of audiences. Now when you think of Destination Exploration, you’ll know that summer camps are just one of the many parts of what we do.