By Amir Vera, The Progress-Index
PRINCE GEORGE — The children of the county received hands-on lessons in science, history and other subjects over the last two weeks.
It’s all a part of the Summer Enrichment Program in the county. The two-week program has been in operation for over 25 years and introduces students to various skills through field trips and guest speakers.
“It's an outstanding program because when we talk about students being enriched, the variety of programs we offer cater to the interest of the students here in Prince George. We think the programs enhance the knowledge of it, provides hands-on instruction for them and in many cases ignites the passion they have for those interests,” said Willie Elliot, director of the gifted program, Title I and the International Baccalaureate program in the school division.
One such interest includes science, technology, engineering and math (or STEM) education. Students were able to visit Metl Span in the county industrial park. Metl Span is a company that makes insulated metal panels for commercial walls.
“There were a lot of interesting questions about the processes,” said Chris Kramer, general manager of Metl Span. “It's important to understand the process of converting raw materials into finished product and how beneficial a skill, such as math, engineering and computers are in this field.”
The children also enjoyed touring the plant.
“I enjoyed watching the process with the metal being worked through the machines,” said 13-year-old Caleb Cochran.