‘Tis the season for summer camp sign-ups, and for all the young sailors who also happen to love the “STEM” subjects of science, technology, engineering, and math, there’s a brand new sailing camp on the Elizabeth River.
Nauticus, Norfolk’s maritime science center and museum, and its community sailing center and school, Sail Nauticus, are introducing the brand new Design. Build. Sail. summer camp this June and July. A reimagining of previous Nauticus camps, this year’s edition will offer kids (ages 8-15) action-packed experiences intended to develop skills in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in a maritime context.
Activities take place on land and under sail. In addition to educational STEM activities around the Nauticus campus, campers will take to the water for more learning aboard Harbor 20 keelboats, the Battleship Wisconsin, and the Schooner Virginia.
Educational experiences and activities include building underwater robots, navigating how to sail upwind, flotation dynamics (for a 58,000-ton steel ship), and sail management (the thousands of feet of sails aboard the Virginia, to be exact). The week will culminate with campers applying their newfound STEM skills to build their own boats, then compete in a regatta.
Sail Nauticus Director K.C. Fullmer says this year’s camp is an innovative experience because it merges the best of what Nauticus has to offer with maximum instructional time.
“Design. Build. Sail. combines all of Nauticus’s unique assets in a one-of-a-kind learning experience. Our staff is constantly seeking ways to improve Nauticus programming, and Design. Build. Sail. is the result. The format offered will allow us to offer more sailing and interactive STEM-based experiences to more campers over a longer period each day,” Fullmer says.
To register for Design. Build. Sail. Summer Camp, click here.
-Laura Adams Boycourt
