Fourth annual event begins July 9 on campus

Twenty-five local middle school students will spend a few days this summer building motors, creating electricity and designing wind turbines – all in the name of energy.

Driven by a need for more job-ready candidates in power and energy fields, KCP&L, the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s School of Computing and Engineering (SCE), and the KC STEM Alliance have teamed up to offer a three-day Energy Camp. The camp will run July 9-11 at UMKC and is designed to keep local students interested in science and math, ultimately, careers in energy.

Students and faculty from SCE will work with the younger students on interactive experiments that demonstrate the concepts of magnetism, physics and electricity. In addition, KCP&L employees will conduct field trips to a local power plant and substation to show how science is applied in the real world.

This is the fourth year for the Get Into Energy Camp and organizers are excited to unveil the latest content updates.

“We set out to create a fun, interactive summer camp where students can explore the basics of creating energy, get a first-hand look at how energy is delivered to their homes and communities, and speak with energy employees about career choices,” said Sarah Whitman, Technical Training manager for KCP&L.

Ultimately, the camp sponsors hope to inspire young people to pursue careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields, and in turn build a robust workforce for the region.

“Businesses like KCP&L are concerned about the growing shortage of STEM professionals. They understand the importance of investing resources into future leaders, and that’s exactly what the Get Into Energy camp is all about,” said Laura Loyacono, director of the KC STEM Alliance.