STEAM Research Academy Opens Imaginations for DCSD Middle School Students: Funded by NASA and Georgia Tech

According to a 2021 report from the National Science Foundation, only nine percent of African Americans make up the STEM workforce. Carla Kabwatha, a teacher at Freedom Middle School, is working to increase those numbers by organizing a wildly successful STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) summer camp for middle school students.

The STEAM Research Academy, initiated in 2020, is jointly sponsored by the Georgia Institute of Technology and NASA. The two-week program at Freedom Middle consists of four classes: Research 101, Robot Design and Programming, Tech Ethics and Values, and Digital Animation.

The camp started after a robotics competition at Georgia Tech, where a professor, Dr. Thomas Orlando, was impressed with the work of Ms. Kabwatha’s robotics team. He was particularly impressed with their focus on research and invited her to host a camp as part of his outreach.

“Georgia Tech has a contract with NASA and is working on different projects for NASA,” said Ms. Kabwatha. “He said since we focus on research, how about developing a camp? That’s how this camp came about. That first year was all about working out a curriculum for the camp and how I wanted to run it, and Dr. Orlando provided the funds.”

The STEAM Research Academy, which takes place in late June, has recently been awarded funding by NASA for the next five years, allowing students to attend the camp for free. During the camp, students engage in research and build a robotics project that will be judged on the last day of the camp. Up to 45 students can participate; the instructors are retired teachers and former students of Ms. Kabwatha.

“Someone that I know and feel will give the best quality instruction to the students,” she said.

One of the instructors is her former student, Travis Herndon, who recently graduated from DeKalb Early College Academy. He is heading to Georgia Tech and will major in civil engineering. Ms. Kabwatha encouraged him to explore more STEM/STEAM opportunities through the robotics club when he was a student at Freedom Middle, including the STEAM Research Academy.

“I had a taste of robotics in elementary school, so when I got to middle school, she definitely delved me deeper into the FLL (First LEGO League),” said Travis. “I’m grateful that I was exposed to STEM. Being involved in STEM not only helped me with my technical skills, programming, and building, but I’ve also gained leadership skills. I’ve also learned how to communicate better within a team and learned teamwork skills. It exposed me to many skills.”

Ms. Kabwatha said this summer camp and other STEM/STEAM programs teach students scientific and comprehensive skills.

“Working on prototypes and programming a robot is literally giving them critical thinking skills,” she said. “They can’t get that from a textbook. It will also make a difference in their test scores.”

Gracy Wah, another former student from Freedom Middle, served as an instructor at the camp this year. She will pursue bioengineering at the California Institute of Technology.

“I’ve always enjoyed math, but being a researcher on Ms. Kabwath’s team made me want to pursue research in the STEM field,” said Gracy. “I’m very appreciative of Ms. Kabwath and the robotics. It exposed me to STEM, but also taught me about teamwork.”