West Virginia University Extension Service’s 4-H program is recruiting WVU students to help provide youths the opportunity to engage in hands-on science, technology, engineering and math projects at camp through a program called STEM Ambassadors.

The application is available online at 4-hyd.ext.wvu.edu/stem/stem-ambassadors. Deadline to apply is Friday, March 21.

This summer, under the direction of WVU Extension Service 4-H faculty, the STEM ambassadors will divide and conquer projects like Lego Robotics, DNA testing and bridge building in counties across the state.

Ambassadors must be available to work May 27 through Aug. 16. In return for their work, each ambassador receives a $2,500 stipend provided by their sponsoring college or program.

Sponsoring colleges include the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources; Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design; Eberly College of Arts and Sciences; and the Health Sciences Center.

“Science isn’t just for the school year,” Jen Robertson-Honecker, WVU Extension STEM specialist, said. “What could be more fun than building robots and bottle rockets with students who are learning these same skills on a much more complex level at WVU?”

Robertson-Honecker said having college students deliver the STEM education is crucial to the program’s success and impact on the campers.

“STEM Ambassadors aren’t just camp counselors,” she explained. “They become role models for students in small towns who see these young people making a difference and think, ‘I can go to college someday and do this, too.’ The dream becomes an attainable reality.”

For a full list of STEM Ambassador duties and responsibilities, 4-hyd.ext.wvu.edu/stem/stem-ambassadors.

For more than a century, 4-H has focused on agricultural science, electricity, mechanics, entrepreneurship and natural sciences. Today, 4-H out-of-school opportunities also exist in subjects like rocketry, robotics, biofuels, renewable energy and computer science.

For more information on West Virginia 4-H and other WVU Extension programs, visit ext.wvu.edu, or contact your local office of WVU Extension Service.

-WVU-

cw/03/12/14

CONTACT: Cassie Waugh, WVU Extension Service
304.293.8735, Cassie.Waugh@mail.wvu.edu

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