SC State summer programs build bridges to STEM opportunities for freshmen, teachers

SC State's Center for Energy and Environmental Solutions brought 40 incoming freshmen to campus for an early start on university life.

ORANGEBURG, S.C. — Logan Pelzer has spent part of her summer getting a head start on exploring the benefits of an education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM.

The 18-year-old from Columbia, South Carolina, was one of 40 students selected for South Carolina State University’s Center for Energy and Environmental Solutions' Summer Bridge Program, a weeklong experience designed to provide new Bulldogs with activities related to STEM, along with social support and academic preparation for the upcoming school year.

Pelzer, who graduated from Blythewood High School, wants to become a civil engineer and said the program helped lay a strong foundation for her.

“I didn’t know where I was going to take it. I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to be a project manager, or I want to just like be in construction itself,’ but being in this program, it’s shown me that I can be bigger than just what. I want to be a CEO of my own construction company now,” she said.

She said the program has also changed her perspective on what a STEM career can be.

“Now I see biology isn’t just about life. It’s more than that. I see that engineering is more than just math. Cybersecurity or computer science isn’t just computers,” Pelzer said.

“Looking at the curriculum that’s given to us, we see that it’s classes we have to take like English and history, but when you hear cybersecurity, you think, ‘Oh, I’m just going to be sitting behind a computer all day,’ but, no, you get interaction with other things,” she said.

Conducted June 11-19 on the SC State campus, the Summer Bridge Program was one of two CEES initiatives hosted in June to advance STEM education across the region. Earlier this month, CEES welcomed middle and high school teachers from across South Carolina for its second annual Summer Science Institute.

Connecting students to STEM careers

 CEES Director Dr. H. Bryan Riley said the center's mission is to create strong, sustainable pathways into STEM fields.

The students, for example, took a field trip to the aquarium in Charleston, South Carolina, where they explored how technology supports aquatic environments.

“Well, I go back to technology," Riley said. "The aquarium is in place for visitors and residents of South Carolina to come and enjoy what’s occurring in sea life within the freshwater riverbeds and ponds. What’s the technology that’s required in order to filter the water?"

Riley said the environmental conditions required for freshwater fish to survive are significantly different from those needed by saltwater species.

“How are the tank systems set up? How is food administered? Technology is a mainstream need and requirement in order to keep the aquarium attractive and to grow it,” he said.

An early transition

Pelzer said both of her parents went to SC State, a place where she felt welcome and built a support network.

“We’ve had forum speakers come in from the math department. They’ve talked to us and helped us. We can really see what we’re going to be doing in these classes. We get first-hand knowledge,” she said.

“The camp has opened my eyes to a new perspective of everything. I don’t want to just get through college. I want to make friends, I want to do internships. I don’t want to just be behind a closed door all day,” Pelzer said.

Antonio Blair II of Jacksonville, Florida, will be majoring in mechatronics at SC State and is a graduate of the Paxon School for Advanced Studies in Jacksonville.

The camp has helped him transition smoothly from high school to college by providing academic preparation, social support and campus orientation.

“Since I’ve been here, everyone has been amazing. The main thing about college is to have connections. The connections will get you a lot of places. Don’t just stay in the dorms all day. Make sure you get out and actually do stuff. Participate in the community,” Blair said.

“Coming here, I had like 100 different ideas of STEM that I wanted to do. I kind of now figured it out, but I’m still open to anything,” he said.

Nicholas Funchess, of Walterboro, South Carolina, graduated from Colleton County High School. He said the camp provided him with a better understanding of not just what he wants to do with a STEM education, but college life.

“I wanted to know more about college and get an understanding of how college life is. I just want to get a head start. As a whole, this camp has helped me a lot because now I know what people to talk to and where everybody’s at,” he said.

“I’m not really the best person at math, but I still love the STEM field because I want to major in civil engineering. I don’t know which part. It’s either structural or transportation that I want to work on, but I love STEM,” Funchess said.

“The thing I love about civil engineering is how buildings are made. I’ve always been interested in building things since I was a little kid. At first, I wanted to be an architect, but once I found out about civil engineering, I said, ‘OK, I’m going to learn more,’” he said.

Insights into advancements in technology

The STEM camp featured seminars from experts in cutting-edge technology, including Dr. Brandial Bright, one of South Carolina's leading authorities on autonomous vehicles.

Autonomous vehicle technology is transforming transportation through advances in engineering, computing and artificial intelligence while creating new opportunities in research, manufacturing, logistics and public safety. Bright joined other STEM professionals in exposing participants to emerging technologies and the career paths driving innovation.

Dr. Anthony Dontoh, an interim project manager at SC State, introduced the students to the inner workings of the university’s SMART (Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation) Virtual Reality Lab.

“We hope that they will be able to get an experience of the advancement in technology and how it is able to help leverage their experience in the real world. We want to let them get exposed to recent technological advancements and let them know that venturing into the engineering space would be good for them. They are the future,” Dontoh said.

“Once they come and experience this, it kind of sparks their interest and they would say, ‘Wow, this is nice. This is something that I will probably want to try and help build and help the next generation of people,’” he said.

Socialization a key to success in college

The camp helped students build skills in student success seminars and form peer connections through evening group activities and presentations.

Funchess said he has also learned to interact more socially with others.

“I found a better perspective of my future here at the Summer Bridge Program. It’s helped me to stop being shy. I’m mostly a quiet person. It made me realize I need to talk more, I need to learn more,” he said.

Riley said one of the program's greatest strengths is that students build academic and social connections before classes begin.

“Because they will have spent time together over the summer, our students have naturally formed affinity groups and study groups. So by living in a housing community where the students are perhaps all the same majors and disciplines, they already now have their internal support network and study groups already aligned and in place on that first day of class,” he said.

“Now their confidence and their teamwork is already turbo charged because they’ve spent time over the summer to foresee and do well with the expectations of the course.”

Funchess said he chose to attend SC State for a reason.

“I heard good things about the engineering program from everybody. It’s the place I want to be. Even though I could have gone to Clemson, it’s nothing like an HBCU. With all the things I’m hearing from everybody, I think it will really help me out prepare for the future. The faculty is excellent,” he said.

Equipping educators for tomorrow’s classrooms

The Summer Science Institute, held June 1-5, gave STEM teachers from within a 50-mile radius of Orangeburg the opportunity to engage in collaborative workshops, hands-on demonstrations and peer learning.

Teachers are selected through a competitive application process and receive stipends, hands-on projects, lectures and exchanges designed to strengthen STEM instruction.

“We invite teachers to submit applications that we review on a competitive basis. We provide them a stipend, hands-on projects, lectures and exchanges to enhance their teaching skills and help them to become better teachers of STEM courses that prepare students when they come into the college setting,” Riley said.

He said CEES also implements a Summer Internship Program that pairs students with faculty researchers.

“Faculty from not just South Carolina State University but other South Carolina colleges and universities can apply for an intern which comes from our university to work with them over the summer,” Riley said.

“Students are matched and selected by the principal investigators. As they are selected, students receive a stipend. They also receive travel reimbursements and between the principal investigator and the student, we provide a $1,000 fund that they can utilize to support the research they’re doing over the summer,” he said.

“At the end of the summer, they do a symposium presenting their research results. Last year it was world class. The results that the students achieved with presentation skills and so forth were phenomenal,” Riley said.

Building pathways through CEES

Riley said the center's work extends beyond its summer programs to research, scholarships and workforce development.

“I want to assert that our Center for Energy and Environmental Solutions is doing a stellar job. The talent that we’ve been able to attract to this team is world class through phenomenal researchers, administrators and support people,” he said.

“The teamwork that occurs here is what makes us stellar in terms of our performance.”

Riley said the center has produced research published in peer-reviewed journals and submitted proposals to funding agencies.

“We’ve also supported students with scholarships and created workforce development opportunities. I’m very pleased with the work that this team is doing. I’m very proud of the dedication and cohesiveness. It’s not been without challenges, but all organizations and teams have challenges,” Riley said.

For more information about SC State’s Center for Energy and Environmental Solutions, visit the center’s website at www.scsu.edu/cees.