Ministry of Education, Science and Technology grants $25,000 to Hack Camp

Bahamas Minister of Education, Science and Technology Hon. Jerome Fitzgerald and Aisha Bowe, founder of Hack Camp STEMBoard CEO (center) announce this year's youth initiative.

Nassau, Bahamas – Hack<IT> 2016, a transformative science and technology programme now in its third year, is honoured to announce it has received $25,000 in support from the Bahamas Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

“The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) is placing greater emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in our public schools,” said the Hon. Jerome K. Fitzgerald, Minister of Education. “I believe in the power of STEM education to help students develop analytical minds and challenge them to be critical thinkers and problem solvers; traits that are possessed by highly successful individuals. The MoEST is proud to partner with Hack<IT> to provide our students the opportunity to be exposed to STEM education through their summer programme. I applaud Ms. Aisha Bowe, co-founder and CEO, for her commitment to Bahamian youth with an interest in STEM education through the wonderful experiences the Hack<IT> camp provides.”

Hack<IT> 2016, scheduled for July 18-23 at the St. Andrew’s School in Nassau, will provide six days of free, hands-on STEM instruction for public and private students in grades 9-12. With a focus on technology entrepreneurship, the camp will give each student an opportunity to select an engineering track, apply their knowledge to an issue of social impact within the Bahamas and compete for prizes.

This year’s Solar Energy programme culminates in a pitch competition where the team demonstrating their portable, low-cost solar energy solution can win $10,000. Made possible by DHL Express, title sponsor of Hack<IT> 2016, this contribution will allow students from Bermuda, Cayman and the Bahamas to converge at St. Andrew’s and vie for the prize.

Last year’s camp was a tremendous success, with a distinguished team of professional engineers, technologists and the first African-American Astronaut to walk in space. This team taught and encouraged more than 75 Bahamian youth to pursue opportunities in STEM fields. This summer, these specialists, led by STEMBoard co-founders Aisha Bowe, a Bahamian-American, and John Martellaro, have created a programme that is even more innovative and inspirational to further spread awareness and decrease the knowledge gap in STEM for the Bahamian student population.

“We are honored to partner with the MoEST and DHL Express to bring world-class opportunities to the youth of the Bahamas,” Bowe said . “This year’s camp promises to not only educate, but seed the next-generation Bahamian entrepreneurs and technologists as we move to make the Bahamas the center of innovation in the region.”

The Hack<IT> 2016 team looks forward to announcing STEM leaders in the coming weeks who will excite, inspire and motivate this year’s class of Bahamian youth.

For information on Hack<IT> 2016, please visit www.bahamascamp.com

For more information on STEMBoard, please visit www.stemboard.com

‍

‍

‍