National publication ‘STEM Jobs’ magazine has featured Georgia Northwestern Technical College as one of the top schools in preparing for careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. First Lady of Georgia Sandra Deal, right, has previously toured the GNTC Whitfield Murray Campus’ technology labs and classrooms. GNTC Electronics Technology instructor Ronald Turner, left, and Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Ginger Mathis, middle, gave the First Lady a tour of the facilities during this visit.
Hundreds of middle-school students from across Northwest Georgia will be headed to college for a week this summer in hopes of finding their futures in the labs and classrooms of Georgia Northwestern Technical College.
The Catoosa County Campus, Floyd County Campus, and the Whitfield Murray Campus of GNTC will help host the 2017 STEM Camps in June. It’s all part of a local economic development strategy designed to point students into fields that will help grow current industry, as well as bring new industry to the Peach State, officials said.
"Nearly a decade old, the original STEM program was designed by the Department of Education to help make American students among the world’s best educated when it comes to the academic areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
"In Northwest Georgia, STEM organizers are attempting to help students explore skill sets needed and the careers which will be available in the area’s advanced manufacturing fields in this next generation. So, GNTC, the College & Career Academies of the region, and the middle schools across the region have partnered with area corporations to create these camps," officials said.
Rising sixth through eighth-graders in the Dalton, Georgia area will be spending the week of June 5 on the Whitfield Murray Campus of GNTC, as well as the Northwest Georgia College and Career Academy. Among the areas students will be experiencing are 3-D Design, Electronics, Laser Fabrication, and Robotics. Campers will also get to learn about and experience the world of robotics and hovercrafts during their week.
The week of June 12, middle school students from Floyd and Catoosa County will be spending their days on the Floyd County Campus and Catoosa County Campus, respectively. Among the activities campers will experience that week will be Electronics, Basic Coding, Designing Carpet, Race Car Designing, and Engineering.
There will also be an additional STEM Camp in Calhoun, Georgia June 19-22 at the Gordon County College & Career Academy across from GNTC’s Gordon County Campus. Activities at that camp will included graphic design, engineering drawing and design, robotics, information technology, industrial sciences, team building, soft skills, marketing, and video production.