Gisell Garcia and Chanel Blackmon, students at Hamilton County’s new STEM school, a school that focuses on science, technology, engineering and math, build a robot at a STEM summer camp at Chattanooga State Community College on Friday. The group controls its robot with a cell phone and once completed, it will be able to draw letters and shapes.WHO’S INStudents were selected for Hamilton County’s STEM school through a lottery process that ensured representation across all zoned high schools. Here is the breakdown of students who will attend in August:By gender* Boys: 38* Girls: 35By school* Brainerd: 11* Central: 12* East Ridge: 12* East Hamilton: 6* Ooltewah: 2* Howard: 8* Hixson: 5* Soddy-Daisy: 7* Signal Mountain: 1* Red Bank: 5* Lookout Valley: 1* Tyner: 1* Transfer: 2Source: STEM school
The first day at a new school is always a little nerve-wracking. But students at Hamilton County’s new science, technology, engineering and math school will know most of their peers and teachers when school begins on Aug. 13.
About 60 of the 75 ninth-graders in the STEM school’s inaugural class attended a three-day camp this week at Chattanooga State Community College, also the site of the under-construction high school. While students participated in hands-on projects like building robots and designing video games, they also got acclimated to peers and teachers.
“It makes me feel better. I’m glad I came to camp because I wouldn’t have known anybody,” said Gisell Garcia, a STEM student originally zoned for Tyner High School. She said she’s attending the new school because of her interest in technology and engineering; she wants to become a radiology technician.
STEM teachers said the school brought in a diverse mix of students from different backgrounds and abilities.