Campus community invited to attend
The School of Education at the University of Missouri-Kansas City is hosting a summer camp this month for 44 fifth and sixth graders that is patterned after the “Shark Tank” reality television show.
During the camp that opens Monday July 18, aspiring entrepreneur-contestants will create and present proposals to “shark” experts/investors. The camp is a collaboration between the SOE and the Hickman Mills School District, and showcases the School of Education’s commitment to share a college campus experience with elementary students.
The camp will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily through Friday July 22 at the School of Education building, 615 E. 52 St. Under the direction of faculty member Leah Panther, instructor of Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies, ten UMKC graduate students and 15 undergraduate students will serve as teachers and instructional coaches as the elementary students work in teams to identify problems and design solutions.
On the final day, the elementary students will present their proposals and prototypes to five individuals serving as judges: Dr. Dennis Carpenter, superintendent of Hickman Mills School District; Dr. Carl Skinner, deputy superintendent; Dr. Mike Camp, principal at C.A. Burke Elementary School; Dr. Chris Brown, professor and chair at the UMKC School of Education; and Dr. LaVerne Berkel, associate dean and associate professor in the SOE.
The camp schedule:
- Day 1 – How to identify problems and look for solutions
- Day 2 – How to turn solutions into design patents, use of scale drawings
- Day 3 – Designing working prototypes and researching costs to mass produce
- Day 4 – Presentation to pitch idea to investors and stakeholders
- Day 5 – Presentations (with awards)
The UMKC campus community is welcome to attend the presentations on the final day of camp. Students will make pitches to the judges from 10:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. in Room 115, the building’s main auditorium. Metered parking is available on the far west side of the lot adjacent to the building, and across the street in lot A44 on the south side of Grant Hall.