Students Receive Scholarships to Attend Jump Simulation Summer STEM Camp
Six Galesburg and Monmouth area students are getting the chance to participate in a week-long Summer Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Camp at Jump Trading Simulation & Education Center for free. OSF HealthCare Foundation for the West Central Region awarded the teens from Galesburg and Monmouth scholarships thanks to a generous donation.
The funding came about after Monmouth science teacher, Cindy Shadensack at Immaculate Conception School, shared the potential benefits of the camp to a local philanthropist. The anonymous donor then reached out to the OSF Foundation in Galesburg to establish a fund for these types of programs.
“I ask my students to take an annual survey every year, asking them what they want to do when they get older,” said Shadensack. “I had quite a few students this year interested in medicine. After hearing about the Jump STEM Camp, I thought it would be wonderful if we could send these kids to the event to further their interest.”
Linda Hawkins, Director of Development for the OSF HealthCare Foundation in Galesburg, says the gift is important for the local community.
“I think it’s a tremendous opportunity to engage our kids in all of the STEM programs, to get them excited about future careers in health care and get them tied to OSF and keep them in our communities as they come back to practice,” said Hawkins.
Four of the students selected for the scholarships are in junior high at Immaculate Conception School in Monmouth. A high school graduate from Monmouth-Roseville High School will participate in the camp in July.
Trinity McGraw from Churchill Junior High in Galesburg was also chosen to receive a scholarship. McGraw says she was surprised to receive the gift.
“I was really hyped and I thought it was one of the biggest opportunities I would probably get at this age,” said McGraw. “Especially because it was a camp lasting a week, I was really excited about that.”
The summer STEM camps for middle and high school students are an extension of the STEM Saturdays program at Jump Simulation, a part of OSF Innovation, launched earlier this year. The camps provide students the opportunity to become fully immersed in different areas of STEM including nursing, neuroscience, health care engineering and emergency services.
Jump Simulation plans to offer more STEM Camp programming throughout the year. More information is available at www.jumpsimulation.org.