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THE STORY

Why our students need to go

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) shapes innovation, change and brings creativity to life. STEM inspires. STEM broadens perspectives. STEM builds solutions. A space that allows for all elements of STEM to ‘dance together’, brings textbooks to life and learning second nature. This is Space Camp. 

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My name is Nadeen Papali’i, a Mathematics Teacher and the Year 9 Dean at Tangaroa College, Otara, Auckland. In July 2019 I attended Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.A. With a desire to inspire students through Mathematics I began to explore. I came across Space Camp. Foreign to the idea of Space Camp; its novelty aroused curiosity and a quest began. Travelling at my own expense, I scouted the land of opportunity Space Camp inhabits. I was blind-sided by my own level of engagement in the activities, the thirst for more learning, the joy of international relations and the ‘coolness’ of understanding how things work. I became a sponge to the knowledge and experience surrounding me. If this was my experience, imagine the experience of a young person who is beginning to colour their future canvas? I returned home adamant, ‘I need to take my students to Space Camp.’

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There are many ways one can inspire their students through Mathematics. Attending Space Camp is one of them. My hope isn’t just that students would desire to do more Mathematics in the future, but that they would begin to see how Mathematics can ‘dance together’ with Science, Technology and Engineering to innovate, change and bring creativity to life. If attending Space Camp is the soil in which this hope seed will grow, then I am willing to put in the effort to sow some seeds and allow students from our community to go to Space Camp. Will you join me in this quest?  

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