{"id":46134,"date":"2019-07-11T14:58:25","date_gmt":"2019-07-11T19:58:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=46134"},"modified":"2019-07-11T14:58:30","modified_gmt":"2019-07-11T19:58:30","slug":"students-receive-benefits-from-fort-hays-state-summer-science-camps%ef%bb%bf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=46134","title":{"rendered":"Students receive benefits from Fort Hays State summer science camps\ufeff"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Randy Gonzales <\/strong>
University Relations and Marketing <\/em>
Alex Landwehr loves science. He attended science camps as a high school student. He is now an instructor at science camps. He finished his freshman year at Fort Hays State University this spring dreaming of a scientific career in paleontology.

FHSU\u2019s Sternberg Museum of Natural History helps nourish that passion for science. Its scholarship program provided financial assistance in 2017 and 2018 for Landwehr to attend \u2013 and flourish \u2013 at summer science camps, which led to a position on camp staff.

\u201cWithout the financial aid, I wouldn\u2019t have been able to go,\u201d Landwehr said recently, taking a break from the six daily camps he is involved in this summer as an instructor.

The Sternberg summer science camps, now in their sixth year, have grown both in numbers and income generated. The first summer in 2014 had an enrollment of four students, all from Kansas. The net income generated was $1,200. This summer, there are 51 participants from 22 states enrolled in Sternberg\u2019s camps for elementary, middle school and high school students. The net income for 2019 is $35,000. In addition to the scholarship program, income generated goes toward purchase of new equipment for the camps and marketing.

Camps Director David Levering wants Sternberg\u2019s programs to be both affordable and accessible. They fill a need for youth science camps in Kansas and the surrounding area. He knew of expensive science camps on both coasts, and he wanted just the opposite when he was hired in 2013.

\u201cIt seemed to me that a lot of the students benefiting the most from these opportunities were students who already had a leg up, economically,\u201d Levering said. \u201cIt occurred to me that if we could get those kinds of opportunities readily available in rural communities, it would be hugely beneficial.

\u201cHaving it here, in the middle of the country, is crucial,\u201d he added. \u201cLower income students don\u2019t have the resources to participate in camps that are across the country.\u201d

That\u2019s where the scholarships come in. Landwehr is thankful for Sternberg\u2019s financial assistance.

\u201cI think it\u2019s really good that they do that,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re providing opportunities for people who aren\u2019t financially able. I know I have friends from other (Sternberg) camps who wouldn\u2019t have been able to go without financial aid.\u201d

Landwehr was able to attend paleontology field camps in 2017 and 2018 with Sternberg\u2019s help.

\u201cI wanted to know if paleontology was something I wanted to do,\u201d he said. \u201cI went to those camps to see if that was what I wanted to major in.\u201d

Landwehr now knows what he wants. He is a double major at FHSU, in biology and geology with a paleontology emphasis.

\u201cI\u2019ve always been interested in the natural sciences,\u201d said Landwehr, a 2018 graduate of Topeka High School. \u201cI really liked geology and biology. Paleontology is a really good mix of those two.\u201d

Levering was originally hired as Sternberg\u2019s museum educator. Dr. Reese Barrick, Sternberg\u2019s museum director, soon realized the camps, as envisioned by himself and Levering, was a full-time job. Levering, who had previous experience with youth science camps, quickly showed that was an area of expertise. Barrick shifted job responsibilities and named Levering as camp director.

\u201cI had wanted to have more connection with high school kids in general,\u201d Barrick said. \u201cThat was one of the reasons I hired him as education director. He was at his best when he interacted with high school and middle school kids.\u201d

Levering had a vision of what he wanted to accomplish. Barrick lent his support.

\u201cIt\u2019s a big credit to Dr. Barrick,\u201d Levering said. \u201cI told him and the rest of the museum staff when I was interviewing what I wanted to do. I think it is a lot of credit to Dr. Barrick to agreeing with that idea as something that would be hugely beneficial to students in rural western Kansas.\u201d

Barrick said many of the students attend camps in multiple summers. That helps boost attendance, as does word-of-mouth testimonials from students. Sternberg also capitalizes on serving an area previously under-utilized by science camps. And, one summer\u2019s camper can become next year\u2019s Fort Hays State student, like Landwehr.

\u201cBecause there are not a ton of camps in the country that do what we do, some of it is just in marketing,\u201d Barrick said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had some kids come to Fort Hays State through the camps. That\u2019s pretty exciting.\u201d

As the camps have grown in both the number offered and in participants, the need for additional camp instructors was filled in part by students such as Landwehr, in his first summer on staff.

\u201cI wanted to keep doing camps, and being an instructor is a good way to stay on with the program,\u201d said Landwehr, who is compensated for serving as an instructor. \u201cIt helps a lot. If I didn\u2019t get paid I don\u2019t know if I would get to be on summer staff.\u201d

Being able to go to Sternberg\u2019s science camps, and later serving as instructors, can put students on the path to success.

\u201cThe longterm benefits can be huge for students participating in these kinds of opportunities,\u201d Levering said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Randy Gonzales University Relations and Marketing Alex Landwehr loves science. He attended science camps as a high school student. He is now an instructor… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11722],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-releases"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46134"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46135,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46134\/revisions\/46135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}