🌟 The Countdown is On — New Jersey Gear Up/College Bound Summer Engineering at NJIT is Back! 🌟

A Long Awaited Reopening

A long-awaited reopening of our Summer Engineering Program is finally happening next week, on July 7th—and we couldn’t be more thrilled!

Like so many programs, ours hit pause during the COVID-19 lockdown. It took a lot of grit (and plenty of Zoom calls) to bring it back, but we’re ready to dive in. This summer, we’re welcoming 35 amazing students from grades 7 through 12, representing several of our Gear Up target schools and every grade level in between.

Sparking Creativity and Artistic Expression

One of the biggest draws this year? Creativity and artistic expression are front and center. We’re launching both middle and high school-level Girls Who Code clubs in the evenings. And right from Week One, we’re starting strong with creative coding. Students will challenge each other to draw superhero faces, logos, and city scenes—all celebrating our summer theme: Brick City Imagineering.

Empowering STEM Mentors and Tutors

As the Curriculum Specialist for our Gear Up site, I’m passionate about empowering the next generation of STEM leaders—and the mentors who guide them. This summer, our STEM mentors are getting extra training and much more autonomy than usual. They’ll step into the role of teachers for small groups of 2–4 students, while I get to be the ultimate cheerleader and project coordinator.

The Summer Lineup

Our summer engineering program has a nearly 20-year history with Gear Up, and this year’s lineup is as exciting as ever. Here’s just a taste of what’s ahead:

✅ July 7th – We’ll kick things off with a Makerspace tour and an afternoon of fun coding using Turtle and p5.js.

✅ July 8th onward – Students will dive into Python, data types, and robotics builds—including constructing their own Tetrix Taskbots.

✅ Week 2 – We’ll visit the Thorlabs Mobile Photonics Lab and explore sensor systems.

✅ Week 2 highlight – Students will compete to build robotic hands out of LEGOs—a definite crowd favorite!

✅ Throughout the summer – We’ll tour labs in robotics, biomedical engineering, and spend plenty of time in the Makerspace.

We’ve also woven in career exploration with our Lunch and Learn sessions, where mentors use conversation cards to spark discussions about STEM careers and college pathways. Plus, every Tuesday, students have access to Exact Path and online tutoring sessions with certified math teachers—to make sure no one falls behind academically while they’re having all this fun.

Don't Miss a Beat!

If you’re curious, check out our latest portfolio posts over at https://www.theceop.com/portfolio. And stay tuned to this blog—I’ll be sharing videos and stories from our summer adventures so you won’t miss a moment.

I hope what we share sparks creativity and new ideas in your own classrooms, programs, or projects.

Happy Summer to all the die-hard pre-college engineering fans out there. Let’s go! 🚀