By DANIELLE BANG
Staff Writer
UHS will be hosting iD Tech Mini, a program for 6 to 9 year olds, during the summer of 2016.
According to Charlie Fruend, Territory Manager of iD Tech, iD Tech Mini is a program with a goal to expose children to technology and give hands-on experience.
The program started in 2015 when some school campuses, including UHS, Caltech and Palo Alto High School, began offering it.
“Students sign up for a class of their choice: Minecraft, Video Game Programming, Robotics, or Graphic Design. All students get to learn at a hands-on Maker Station, filled with techie toys and activities,” Fruend said. “Students build with GoldieBlox, Roominate and Lego EV3. Students learn engineering with MakeyMakey Invention Kit and littleBits Electronics.”
The program is divided into half and full day classes. The half day classes have both AM and PM sessions and can accept 32 students in each session. However, only about 10 students enroll each year for each session.
“Uni was chosen because it is known in the community for its superb academics and drive towards STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) integration,” Fruend said.
Some of the courses iD Tech Mini offers are Junior Adobe Photoshop Designer, Junior Minecraft Game Designer, Junior Programmer & Game Designer and Junior Robotics Engineer.
This camp for 1st to 4th graders is the junior version of the iD Tech program that organizes classes on many universities such as MIT, Stanford, Yale and even UCI.
“I think it’s really good for both the community and Uni to know that Uni is hosting iD Tech Mini. I have an 8 year old brother and it’s nice to know that Uni is assisting in developing education for kids my brother’s age,” Emily McPhie (So.) said.
“This program is a great way for kids to learn while having fun,” Janine Bryant (Jr.) said. “I’m proud that Uni is connecting with iD Tech Mini to support its program.”