St. Thomas Aquinas STEAM Summer Program Receives $50,000 Donation

Orange and Rockland Utilities Inc. (O&R) has donated $50,000 to St. Thomas Aquinas College to help fund its Summer STEAM camp program for middle school students for the next two years. Analyzing blood spatter, processing fingerprints, collecting evidence, identifying suspects, and a variety of other crime scene investigation pursuits—a kind of CSI-STAC—are all just part of the course work at this innovative camp in Sparkill. The camp 75 students participated this summer. 

O&R also donated $50,000 to support the program through 2017 and 2018. STAC Summer STEAM aims to develop in students, the 21st century version of problem-solving, teamwork, collaboration, and communication by making classroom work in STEAM stimulating, timely and engaging, according to Dr. Suzanne Reynolds, Assistant Dean of STAC’s School of Education and Director of the STAC Summer STEAM program.

“We view the elements of this program as access points for guiding student inquiry, dialogue, and critical thinking,” Dr. Reynolds said. “The end results are students who take thoughtful risks, engage in experiential learning, persist in problem-solving, embrace collaboration, and work through the creative process.”