PHOTO: RUSH's Andre Boyd teaches a group of students during the STEM Summer Bridge Program.
FLORNECE, S.C. (July 2, 2018) - During the last week of June, Florence-Darlington Technical College’s RUSH (Removing Undeserved Student Hurdles) Program brought high school students to participate in an intensive four-day STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Summer Bridge week.
RUSH, a federally funded program, brought 60 dual enrollment students from Lake City High School and Timmonsville High School for the Summer Bridge program. During the four days that the students were on FDTC's main campus, they gained the experience of solving common problems, simplifying processes and bringing ideas to life with Interactive Engineering. Coding for a Cause allowed students to learn coding and programming, and they developed a fully functional mobile app by the end of the bridge program.
Personal Health was addressed by RUSH’s very own physician as he demonstrated the effects a common teenage diet has on the heart. Students investigated genes and traits through high-tech, hands-on activities aboard the 41-foot Greenwood Genetic Mobile Lab.
"We serve students on our existing satellite campuses, but we also serve two schools, Lake City High School and Timmonsville High School, and we had them here for a summer bridge," said Andre Boyd, RUSH Program Coordinator. "We did everything from coding to monetizing an app for those proceeds to go towards a cause of their choice. We did food science kitchen chemistry. Everything from making edible slime to cotton candy."
The last day of the Summer Bridge Program offered a STEM Carnival. Along with displaying hydraulic bridges, animation portfolios and STEM projects created with free open source software, designated booths engaged students in food science and chemistry as they prepared cotton candy, rock candy, ice cream, edible slime and other concession items.
RUSH serves about serves 250 students at FDTC during the fall and spring semesters. For more information on RUSH, please contact Dr. Andre Boyd at Andre.Boyd@fdtc.edu or by calling 843-661-8119.
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