STEM Comes Alive in Acera's Summer Camp

Science, creativity and innovation are coming alive this summer for kids and teens at Acera School’s STEAM camp in Winchester.

To learn about the forces around them, a group of kids build a giant trebuchet using wood, saws, hammers, and paint. The group, a lively bunch, take the trebuchet outside for a spin and pose for a picture. There’s teasing and laughing and joy, what you’d expect from a group of kids in the summer. Except they’ve just learned about simple machines and physics.

This is not your average summer camp. Kids at Acera’s STEAM camp take on real world challenges. They learn with all their senses. They find answers to questions that make science, technology, engineering, and arts real to them.

In a Biomimicry workshop, kids design orb-like models for sustainable human habitats for the Sahara desert.

A self-portrait class, taught by Acera’s resident art teacher, turns out true-to-life art from some pretty young artists.

Tweens become crime scene investigators in a forensics workshop, all the while sharpening their chemistry skills.

In a woodworking workshop, kids take on a summer favorite: foosball. They head to Acera’s Innovation Lab, an open workshop space with real power tools and lab equipment, to cut, hammer and build their own foosball tables. Once they finish, they head to the Acera common, where they pair up to try out their creations. The tables work and are lots of fun!

Experienced teachers are leading Acera’s summer workshops. Acera teachers are really into what they teach, and are sharing their love of learning with their students.

Instructors at Acera are encouraged to be entrepreneurs in the classroom. Many have worked in labs at leading research institutions, like MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Some are working artists and award winners. Others are biotech professionals turned educators. Acera’s summer camp has been a great avenue for talented teachers to bring their real world learning back to kids.

Acera’s STEAM Camp will continue through July until mid-August. Upcoming workshops include: Bridge Building, Wooden Taxidermy, Computer Programming, The Life of Cells, Raft Design and Racing, Alternative Energy Engineering, Live Action Role Play, and much more. Limited enrollment is available.

To learn more about Acera, visit aceraschool.org.