Financial Aid Available for STEM Camps

“Need-Based” Scholarships for STEM Summer Camp

If your child is enrolled or interested in attending a STEM camp in Maine this summer, financial aid may be available to help you pay camp fees.

This summer, the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance’s [MMSA] STEM Guides Project is offering financial aid for income eligible children to attend a STEM daycamp or overnight camp in Maine. Award amounts can reach up to $200 for daycamps and up to $500 for overnight camps.

Children, ages 10 to 18, who are eligible to receive Free and Reduced lunch support or Maine Care (or whose family is facing equivalent financial hardship) may apply if they live year round in one of MMSA’s four “STEM Guide Hubs.”  In midcoast Maine, the STEM Guide Hub includes the towns of  Alna, Bremen, Bristol, Damariscotta, Jefferson, Newcastle, Nobleboro, South Bristol and Whitefield.

In Maine there are numerous camps that enable kids to explore ideas or skills related the sciences, math, technology or engineering.  They give kids the chance to engage in and enjoy learning about topics such as: computer coding, cooking, transportation design, health care, nature study, astronomy, robotics, geographic information systems, photography, aviation, boatbuilding, agriculture, gardening, auto mechanics, space travel and much, much more. To search for camps, visit MMSA’s STEM Resource Bank at: www.steminme.org or contact your local STEM Guide, Lynn Farrin atlfarrin@mmsa.org and 207.592.8927

To ensure consideration, please apply for this scholarship by May 27, 2016.  Applications received after this date will only be considered if funds remain following the distribution of initial awards. Applications can be completed and submitted online at: http://tinyurl.com/grtn9g5.  For printable applications and more information, please contact your local STEM Guide. Paper copies of applications may also be found at most of the schools and public libraries in your STEM Guide hub.

MMSA’s STEM Guides Project is funded by a five-year grant from the National Science Foundation to increase out-of-school access to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) opportunities in rural areas.  For more information about the STEM Guides Project contact your local STEM Guide, visit your local STEM Guide Hub Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/CLCSTEMGuides or go to: http://mmsa.org/mmsa-project/stem-guides/