{"id":35449,"date":"2025-09-06T18:31:58","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T18:31:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/?p=35449"},"modified":"2025-09-06T18:33:43","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T18:33:43","slug":"hands-on-problem-based-learning-at-stem-camp-in-westfield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/?p=35449","title":{"rendered":"Hands-On, Problem-Based Learning at STEM Camp in Westfield"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Westfield\u2019s STEM Camp once again engaged students in grades 3-8 with exciting, hands-on challenges that sparked curiosity and creativity across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This summer, Westfield\u2019s STEM Camp once again engaged students in grades 3-8 with exciting, hands-on challenges that sparked curiosity and creativity across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.<\/p>\n

During the week-long, half-day sessions in July, STEM campers participated in four workshops among a selection of 10 courses, including Solar Boat Racing, Crash Test Cars, Wind-Powered Vehicles, Crime Scene Investigation, Stop Motion Animation, and Workshop to Flight.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe students learn best through active engagement. The camp\u2019s hands-on projects introduce campers to complex STEM concepts in a way that\u2019s both accessible and empowering, fostering a sense of ownership and confidence in their abilities,\u201d says camp co-director Laura Paiva. \u201cAs participants design, build, and test their creations, they develop critical problem-solving skills and learn how to navigate challenges, helping them to develop essential skills that are useful both inside and outside the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other courses included Spike Prime Robotics, Hydraulic Judd Bots, Cardboard Critters, and Makey Space.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince the start of this camp in 2013, I have witnessed hundreds of children from Westfield wanting to spend a week of the summer engaging in meaningful real-world, problem-based learning and having fun while doing so,\u201d adds camp co-director Sean Bonasera. \u201cLearning like this not only builds critical thinking skills, but also builds resilience, confidence, and perseverance, all skills that lead to success in today\u2019s world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bonasera notes that the courses are taught by Westfield Public Schools teachers with a passion for STEM education.<\/p>\n

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Photo Credit: Westfield Public Schools<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This summer, Westfield\u2019s STEM Camp once again engaged students in grades 3-8 with exciting, hands-on challenges that sparked curiosity and creativity across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. During the week-long, half-day sessions in July, STEM campers participated in four workshops among a selection of 10 courses, including Solar Boat Racing, Crash Test Cars, Wind-Powered Vehicles, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":35450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[139,151],"tags":[],"post_flags":[],"class_list":["post-35449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cover-feature","category-westfield-local"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35449"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35460,"href":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35449\/revisions\/35460"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/35450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35449"},{"taxonomy":"post_flag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.localmedianj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpost_flags&post=35449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}