Though the 2021-22 school year ended in early June, Hill continued to teach young minds well into the summer. For many years, the school hosted Adventure on the Hill, a series of high-energy summer camps for children from ages 7 to 17. The Hill School held in the past multiple sports camps, ranging from indoor sports such as basketball, as well as outdoor sports like field hockey and baseball. In addition to these summer programs, however, the school developed a STEM camp for students entering sixth through eighth grade. 

Robert Steinman, Athey family master of science, describes this science, technology, engineering, and math experience as “summer enrichment for students who have a natural proclivity for STEM.” From July 11 to July 22, a number of middle school students jumped into the course instructed by three current Hill employees: Hoda Ehsan, chair of the engineering department and associate director of engineering, Sam Rhinehart, engineering intern, and Steinman. Beginning with a math course in the morning, this group of students was challenged and taught information using laptops, projects, 3D printers, and so much more. The different assets in the Quadrivium made for great interactive experiences for these students that Hill previously has not had access to. 

David Page, the director of summer programming, stated in an email that the new STEM camp is “a great resource for local families with children interested in a life in the STEM world.” Offering these camps and courses through the summer gives young adolescents a glimpse into what their courses may look like later on in middle school or high school. 

Though this is Hill’s first STEM camp, this is not the first time Hill has hosted a summer science course. For many years, the Hill campus’ facilities have been rented out for numerous programs. Robert Steinman explained the shift that occurred at Hill as the result of COVID-19 regarding the ability to host future programs, taking into account these new Quadrivium facilities. “I think we were used to renting out our facilities to other programs and I think we are starting to build up new programs that came as a result of Covid, shutting things down for the summer,” Steinman said. Hill now has access to these amazing resources, so why not use them to serve students outside of the school year?  

Creating an entirely new camp is not an easy feat by any means. Throughout this summer, many people worked hard to make this an opportunity that kids would not forget and hopefully want to come back to experience all over again.