Middle schoolers, grad students thrive at Fredonia STEM camp

“This is hands-on labor and the projects are unique, challenging and often messy – just like science and math.”

That’s the guiding approach of Department of Mathematical Sciences Professor Keary Howard to learning activities he creates for Camp COMETS, a four-day STEM program at SUNY Fredonia that provides valuable teaching experiences for both aspiring and current public-school teachers, while also introducing advanced concepts of science, technology, engineering and mathematics in fun and exciting ways to area middle schoolers.

It’s a winning formula for everyone.

“The only way to become a better teacher is to participate in authentic teaching opportunities. I can talk about teaching to anybody, but you only get better at your craft by doing your craft,” said Dr. Howard, coordinator of Mathematics Education.

“I’ve always loved a good summer camp, and I remember what it was like to be a middle schooler and make great friends and learn new things,” Howard added.

The camp – which began in 2011 – typically attracts 20 middle school students from area school districts and 12 graduate students – all SUNY Fredonia graduates and many that are certified mathematics teachers employed in area school districts – who serve as camp counselors.

Middle school students from Dunkirk, Fredonia, Silver Creek, Ellicottville, Cassadaga, Maple Grove and Panama school districts attended this year’s relaunch of the camp, held during the first week of August, following a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Students making new friends is always the first order of business at the camp, followed by math/science, Howard explained. “Rarely does a middle schooler want to get up in the morning and go to math camp, so our first goal in that first hour is to make friends and make them comfortable doing math and science. For young teachers, I remind them the first day is always the most important day,” he said.

“We love to be the first ones to introduce them to advanced science before anybody else does. That’s exciting for us, as teachers of rising sixth, seventh and eighth grade students.”

So how do Howard and his camp colleagues go about this task?

They guide middle schoolers through unique experiments, such as creating a chemical reaction to produce a substance that they’re challenged to engineer a way to place the substance into a water balloon, which has to be launched into the air and land safely – well, Howard jokes, most of the time.

Or stage an earthquake eating contest by creating a structure made of Jell-O pudding, and then testing its weight-bearing capabilities. Once those load assessments are made, students get to eat the Jell-O. Aeronautical Adventures, Energy Recreation and Go Big or Go Home are titles of other experiments.

Between his role as mathematics coordinator and the camp he runs, Howard manages to stay in contact with camp alumni, many now in their mid-20s, who have achieved great success. “Some have gone to Fredonia and graduated, some have gone onto Ivy League schools and they do amazing things,” he said. Kassidy Howard, who earned a Physics degree at Fredonia in 2020 and a M.S. in Physics at Bowling Green State University, has been hired as an assistant professor of physics at Alfred State College. Frank Zuroski has entered the M.S./Ph.D. program in economics at Columbia University. Both attended the camp in 2011.

The camp itself acts as a powerful marketing tool, as many middle schoolers attend the camp two or three years. “I only have to send a reminder to parents that it’s running again. It’s easy to recruit. Their children have enjoyed the experience, so it almost guarantees that the parents and children will be back.”

Parents were invited to attend and participate with their child in competitions and grand prize awards ceremony held on Thursday, the concluding day of this year’s camp.

Camp counselors, all part-time or full-time graduate students at SUNY Fredonia, included:

• Zoey Charrette, Mathematics: Middle Childhood Certification;
• Alexis Schuman, Earth Science: Adolescence Education;
• Sarah DeNardo, Biology: Adolescence Education, teacher in Dunkirk City School District;
• Allyson Pfeil, Biology, Adolescence Education, teacher at Mount Mercy Academy;
• Sarah Davis, Mathematics: Middle Childhood Certification, teacher in Bemus Point Central School District;
• Megan Sonner, Biology and Chemistry: Adolescence Education, teacher at Cattaraugus-Allegheny BOCES;
• Mitchell Sexton, Mathematics: Middle Childhood Certification;
• Rachael Clark, Early Childhood/Childhood Education, concentration in Natural Science, teacher in Dunkirk City School District;
• Madigan Howard, Mathematics: Middle Childhood Certification;
• Jani Barney, Mathematics: Adolescence Education, teacher in Jamestown Public Schools;
• Ronny Nissen, Earth Science: Adolescence Education, resident director of McGinnies Hall.

“I’ve always said that these are the best 20 middle schoolers in Western New York,” Howard said, “and I always have a staff with some of the greatest STEM teachers in Western New York.”