STARBASE Kelly hosts STEM summer academy

Violet Schwerdtfeger and Malia Norman, STARBASE Kelly summer camp students, attempt to catch a descending rocket as Valerie Acosta, STARBASE Kelly, summer camp instructor, directs them towards the rocket’s descent June 12, 2020 at the Lackland Youth Center, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas. Students in the summer camp program get a chance to participate in the Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics program where they each get an opportunity to learn by conducting subject related experiments. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Iram Carmona)

STARBASE Kelly hosts STEM summer academy

Valerie Acosta, STARBASE Kelly, summer camp instructor, explains how the rockets built by the class would function during the launch procedure June 12, 2020 at the Lackland Youth Center, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas. The summer camp Acosta is teaching is part of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics program that’s hosted by STARBASE Kelly every summer where students get to learn by participating in different types of class experiments in the corresponding subjects. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Iram Carmona)

STARBASE Kelly hosts STEM summer academy

Published June 17, 2020
By Tech. Sgt. Iram Carmona
433rd Airlift Wing

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas --

For the first time, two entities, STARBASE Kelly and JBSA-Lackland’s Youth Center, combined forces teaching STARBASE Kelly’s Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics summer camp here June 12.

"We are so happy to have had the chance to collaborate with the Lackland Youth Center and provide a STEM Camp for their children,” said Kathy Kiolbassa Spalding, STARBASE Kelly director. “Due to COVID-19, we were unable to bring students to STARBASE Kelly, so we took our program to them. The response was great, and we hope to continue this partnership in the future.”

STARBASE Kelly customarily teaches the summer camp totally on their campus; but this year, a portion of the summer camp was given at the JBSA-Lackland’s Youth Center.

“Because of COVID-19, we had to take additional safety measures because we’re used to going out doing stuff that has to do with STEM,” said Luqman Abdul Jami, a teacher with the STARBASE Kelly summer camp.