While most of the New Mexico State University campus community spends the summer relaxing or planning for the start of the fall semester, the learning doesn’t stop for many students who take advantage of programs offered by various departments on campus.

Activities ranging from sports to STEM to career exploration opportunities give students plenty to do during the summer months. 

Since 2001, NMSU’s STEM Outreach Center has hosted its summer camps for elementary and middle school students on the NMSU campus. In summer 2024, the center hosted more than 250 students in fourth to eighth grades from across Doña Ana County for camps focusing on drones, space exploration, a LEGO building challenge and more. The center also collaborates with the Department of Computer Science, Learning Games Lab, College of Engineering and the Physical Science Laboratory, as well as NMSU Esports, to host additional camps, including career exploration camps for high school students.

Sonya Bales, a data management assistant for the STEM Outreach Center, enrolled her 13-year-old son in the center’s camps since 2023, and said his participation has resulted in him becoming more involved in his school day. 

“Science class is becoming a ‘cool’ thing,” Bales said. “He is involving himself in school class discussions more. I have mentioned to other parents that these camps are not just a fun place to keep their children during summer, but there is still learning and engagement that comes from these camps. This is a safe summer place for their kiddos.”

Since 2023, Las Cruces area high school students have attended an interactive artificial intelligence summer camp hosted by the Physical Science Laboratory in partnership with Trenchant Analytics, based in Great Falls, Virginia.

STEM Mavericks at NMSU is a partnership with the NMSU STEM Outreach Center, PSL Information Science and Security Systems Division, and the NMSU Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Thirteen students from Las Cruces Public Schools and Gadsden Independent School District were selected to be part of the program in 2024. Students participating attended Arrowhead Park Early College, Centennial, Chaparral, Gadsden and Las Cruces high schools.

The 2024 program also included area high school teachers. Selected through a competitive application process, the teachers participated in training prior to camp, supported the learning activities during the camp and used lessons learned to develop course content for their own classrooms.

“One of my biggest takeaways is how relevant STEM is in so many career fields, as well as how intertwined all the disciplines are,” said Mack Pokorny, who participated in STEM Mavericks in 2024 as an Arrowhead Park Early College High School student and now attends NMSU. “Civil engineers will need an electrical engineer’s help to implement traffic lights, and electrical engineers might need help from software engineers to design the logic for the traffic lights. Everywhere you look there is STEM, and experience in any STEM field helps with the others.”

Maria A. Urena’s daughter, Betsabeth Urena, attended the STEM Mavericks program as a Las Cruces High School student. Maria Urena said her daughter learned about the program from a teacher and was excited to participate.

“The program was very important for her,” Maria Urena said. “We noticed the importance, enthusiasm and tact of the STEM Mavericks team in choosing their topics, the way they made it not only interesting but fun. Two weeks per summer spent in this program can make a difference in the future of someone’s child. It gives them motivation to study a career and have a successful future.”

NMSU’s TRIO Student Support Services Programs also offer activities aimed at providing career exploration and hands-on learning opportunities to Upward Bound participants, as well as newly graduated high school seniors who want to acclimate to college life.

In summer 2024, 40 students participated in the Las Cruces Public Schools/Gadsden Independent School District Upward Bound program, in which they learned more about engineering and computer science, and learned about entrepreneurship in the Innoventure program. They also participated in the two-day Ethics Boot Camp through the Daniels Fund. Other activities included field trips to downtown Las Cruces and UTEP. Students also learned some American Sign Language and built and coded robots. 

Eighteen students participated in the Alamogordo Upward Bound program, in which they learned Japanese, mathematics, writing and cultural learning, as well as wildfire prevention. Hatch Valley High School Upward Bound saw 28 participants learning Japanese, English, history, geology, and family and consumer sciences, as well as tools for managing stress and anxiety. They also participated in a college tour in Denver. 

The TRIO Upward Bound programs also hosted the Bridge Academy, which saw students from Las Cruces, Hatch and Alamogordo taking English and criminal justice summer courses at NMSU.

“They get to explore their likes and passions, rather than guess at what they want to do. The instructors present hands-on lessons and talk about what they do, and the educational path they had to take to be where they are,” said Lourdes Ambriz, senior program director for the Upward Bound program in Hatch.

NMSU student Daniel Rodriguez, who is majoring in business administration-information systems, is a past participant of the Bridge Academy, and said his experience has proved valuable.

“I knew that with the Bridge program, I would be ahead of my peers and know what I am doing for my first year on campus,” Rodriguez said.

A version of this story was published in the fall 2024 issue of Panorama. For more stories, visit https://panorama.nmsu.edu.