Community Press & Recorder, March 8, 2016
Campbell students learn by building bicycles
by Chris Mayhew
ALEXANDRIA - Middle school student Olivia Prejean is gearing up to ride a new bicycle this spring.
But first she will build it in her after-school STEM club.
After school at Campbell County Middle School, the Science Engineering Technology and Math (STEM) clubs let students work with community mentors. The idea is to get the wheels of knowledge moving.
Students in Club 21 can create objects on a three-dimensional (3-D) printer or build a bicycle from scratch.
Prejean, a seventh-grader from Alexandria, said she looks forward to learning how to work on a bicycle.
“I think it’s a new experience,” Prejean said. “I like to find out new things.”
Prejean plans to give her old bicycle to her younger sister.
Sarah Parker, Club 21 program coordinator, said the programs are in partnership with the University of Cincinnati as well as seven business sponsors. Wal-Mart donated the bicycles for the bike club.
Parker said a police officer, teacher and a counselor are among seven volunteers working with students to help build bicycles over the next 10 weeks. Students will keep a journal about building their bicycle as part of their club work, Parker said.
The bike and 3-D printer clubs are project of the Greater Cincinnati STEM Collaborative, she said.
Alexandria Police Department School Resource Officer Tim Vinson was helping Prejean put her bicycle together.
“They basically have to disassemble everything, oil it, and put it back together,” Vinson said.
CCMS counselor Kelly Crowley mentors bike club students, too.
“I think these kids learn not only the ins and outs of putting a bike together, but following instructions and patience,” Crowley said.