PACER's "EX.I.T.E." Challenge
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"Attending this camp has assisted my daughter in many ways – it’s great that she feels a sense of belonging to a group of unique girls! She feels she belongs and that she can make friends."
- Parent
"I didn’t know that other people had ADHD and I didn’t think that I was smart. At camp, I met other people who had ADHD and made new friends that don’t think I’m weird."
- 2006 Camper
"The most surprising thing I learned at camp was that I can have a career in science and math."
- 2006 Camper
"The most surprising thing that I learned was that I am not the only girl in the world that has a disability."
EX.I.T.E.
STC Navigation Menu
EX.I.T.E. Camp 2008 Photo Gallery
EXploring Interests in Technology and Engineering
During the camp, 30 middle school girls with disabilities enjoyed such hands-on activities, as making lip gloss, exploring acids and bases, tearing down a PC, making ice cream with liquid nitrogen, working with digital recording, and programming Lego robots.
For more information please contact the PACER Simon Technology Center at
stc@pacer.org or 952-838-9000.
Note: All pictures below can be clicked to view a larger image.
Opening Ceremony - August 7, 2008
Campers and their families learned more about the camp and met camp staff at the opening ceremony. A welcome presented by Paula Goldberg, PACER Center executive director, Kristi Wieser, IBM client director, Diane Ingersoll, IBM EX.I.T.E. coordinator, and Meghan Kunz, PACER EX.I.T.E. coordinator kicked off the ceremony and the excitement surrounding the week began to build.
Welcome Medtronic
Camp Day One - August 11, 2008
What is sticky, gooey, and gushes in your hands? Day one of camp provided the answer as campers learned about polymers and created slime. Medtronic volunteers also taught campers about microprocessors, emulsions, and making lip gloss, an activity that produced plenty of laughter. As campers made (and wore) their new lip gloss, they discovered that science could be fun. Alissa Gilbert from the Bakken Museum also helped campers learn about static electricity through some hair-raising experiments.
Welcome Accenture and Best Buy
Camp Day Two - August 13, 2008
What do you get when you combine video cameras, popular songs, crazy costumes, and lots of giggly girls? A music video! Accenture and Best Buy volunteers taught campers about storyboarding, design, and set management so girls could break into small groups and create their own video. Using special editing software, the girls transformed their video clips into short music videos worthy of watching on the big screen. Belinda Jensen also attended as a guest speaker and motivated the girls to pursue areas of science, technology, engineering, and math. Belinda’s personal experience as chief meteorologist for KARE 11 and her passion for the sciences made for an inspiring afternoon.
Welcome 3M
Camp Day Three - August 15, 2008
On this day, campers suited up in lab coats and protective eye wear straight from the 3M labs. 3M scientists joined the girls as they experienced alchemy by turning copper pennies to gold, tested PH levels of household products and learned about acids and bases, shot marshmallows from homemade mouse trap catapults, and explored freezing points using liquid nitrogen. Later in the day,, NASA Ambassador Terrence Flower told campers that pursuing science careers is important for their generation and taught them about STEM career opportunities. The afternoon was complete with brain freezes courtesy of hot pink, lime green, and blaze orange homemade ice cream made from liquid nitrogen.
Welcome IBM
Camp Day Four - August 19, 2008
What science principles went into the creation of Cinderella’s shoe? This was the question campers asked as they learned about biomechanics of the foot and used corrugated cardboard, glue, scissors, and sparkles to engineer a Cinderella shoe of their own. IBM volunteers then helped campers play with principles of force and thrust as they made and launched balloon rockets. In the afternoon, Underwater Adventures gave the campers a crash course on marine biology as they learned about salt water reptiles and had the chance to actually touch a shark!
Tour of IBM and Closing Ceremony
Camp Day Five - August 21, 2008
On the final day of camp, campers, staff, and volunteers toured IBM’s manufacturing plant in Rochester, Minn. and watched computers being constructed. Girls also had the chance to learn from IBM engineers as they labeled and tore apart desktop computers. During lunchtime, campers had the opportunity to talk with IBM executives about their jobs in the science, technology, and engineering fields.. After lunch, campers programmed software to interact with Lego robots had a dance-off competition between robots, and returned to PACER Center in time for closing ceremonies. Closing ceremonies was a time for campers to reflect on the week’s activities and share stories and photos with their families and friends.
PACER's site offers many PDF files for download, which require 
