Children continue learning at camp at the library

As host of Oak View Library’s first STEM camp, Hannah Leou didn’t want the students to learn from textbooks.

She wanted them to learn by using their own two hands.

Since camp began June 18, students have completed projects involving making ice cream, growing cosmos plants, building bridges with marshmallows and toothpicks, and creating catapults with Popsicle sticks. The camp hosted about 30 students a day at the library.

Hannah, 17, who will be entering her senior year at Huntington Beach High School this fall, planned and led the four-day camp to teach children the basic principles of each subject represented in STEM: science, technology, engineering and math.

Each day was devoted to studying one subject.

The camp concluded July 2 with a STEM fair at the library. That day, the students watched a representative from the entertainment company Bubblemania make life-size bubbles. They also saw a demonstration of a mechanical robot constructed by 3309 Friarbots, a student robotics team from Anaheim. The fair also featured booths where the children could re-create their favorite projects from past camp days.

“It’s learning through doing,” Hannah said. “When I was learning these concepts, it came straight out of a textbook, but I wanted them to physically make things and take something home each day.”

As a member of the Girl Scouts of Orange County, Hannah is pursuing one of the highest achievements in the organization — the Gold Award. Scouts earn the honor by taking action in solving a community problem.

Hannah said that after reading “One Square Mile,” a book was about the Oak View community and its culture, she was inspired to share her passion for science in Oak View.

“From it, I learned that even though there are affluent areas of Huntington Beach, there are others that don’t get the same privileges,” Hannah said.

Hannah then approached Oak View’s head librarian, Claudia Locke, with the idea for a STEM camp. Locke said she was thrilled by the prospect.

“We’ve never done a science camp here before, but the kids took a great interest in it, and maybe now we have future engineers or mathematicians,” Locke said. “During summer, a lot of parents say they want their child to come to the library and learn, not sit and watch TV.”

The camp was free to students in kindergarten through seventh grade who visit the library. More than a dozen volunteers from Huntington Beach High School’s National Honor Society also helped Hannah.

As of now, Hannah plans to become either an engineer or a physicist, but she said the camp experience has helped open her

“mind to different career possibilities.” Hannah said.

“I have a newfound appreciation for educators because I realize how much work goes into organizing classes and lesson plans,” she said.

The next step for Hannah will be to write a formal report on the results of the camp and submit it to the Girl Scout Council of Orange County. She expects to hear about the award status by September.