Duke Energy renews Camp Kilowatt funding
By From staff reports
Published in News on September 5, 2018 5:50 AM
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Millie Chalk, left, a Duke Energy district manager, presents a $28,064 grant from the Duke Energy Foundation to Steven Reese, Wayne Community College engineering and manufacturing instructor and director of Camp Kilowatt, for the popular summer program that focuses on STEM, or science, technology, engineering and math projects.
Wayne Community College's Camp Kilowatt was able to expand again this summer with the support of a $28,064 grant from the Duke Energy Foundation.
This was the 10th year of the day camp and the ninth that it was supported by the energy company. Since 2010, Duke Energy has invested $164,122 in the popular summer event.
The camps, which explore STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), provide hands-on learning opportunities inside and outside the classroom. Over the years, it has expanded beyond the WCC campus and the four schools it served last summer and added two more schools.
The grant was one of more than 67 donations Duke Energy made to education and workforce training initiatives throughout North Carolina. The Duke Energy Foundation gave more than $2.5 million this year to enhance programs and initiatives focused on STEM learning, early childhood literacy and workforce development.
"STEM education is a critical focus area of Duke Energy," said Millie Chalk, Duke Energy district manager. "We're excited to continue support for Camp Kilowatt to expand opportunities for students to explore science and technology and foster a true passion for learning."
For the second year, the college partnered with Wayne County Public Schools to take the camp into schools. This summer, six middle schools throughout the county (Rosewood, Brogden, Grantham, Spring Creek, Eastern Wayne and Norwayne) hosted four-day camps. The Duke funding allowed about 120 students to attend the camps at no charge.
The traditional camp, which charges a fee, was also held on the college's campus for than 40 middle and high school students. Students participate in such projects as propeller cars, battery cars, glider planes and windmills.
The grant also covered stipends for counselors, who were teachers at the middle school camps, as well as the project coordinator, supplies and kits, daily snacks and T-shirts.
Last year, Camp Kilowatt made the move into the community that organizers had always envisioned, said camp coordinator Steven Reese, an engineering and manufacturing instructor at the college.
Several students who have aged out of the camp return each year as volunteers to supplement the counselors on the college's campus, Reese said, proof of the following Camp Kilowatt has developed.