Three-day camp is one of a number of summer events the Grant County Library puts on

JOHN DAY — Around 25 local youths participated in a three-day STEM camp as part of the Grant County Library’s summer education programs.

Eastern Oregon University’s Greater Oregon STEM put on the camp July 15-17 at the Seventh Street Sports Complex. Children rotated through three science, technology, engineering and math stations during the course of the event. Campers spent one, three-hour day at a mapmaking and orientation station, another at a station covering simple machines and an escape room-style activity that focused on chemistry and puzzling.

Each child received a bag at the beginning of the camp, which they tie-dyed on the final day.

GO STEM is a STEM hub that provides free preschool through age 20 STEM education to Wallowa, Harney, Morrow, Umatilla, Baker, Morrow and Grant counties. GO STEM educator Laura Howland said she and two other educators travel throughout Eastern Oregon and bring STEM education primarily to schools but they do community and other programming as well.

Lowland said their summer programs tend to be done in partnership with libraries or community organizations when they can. The key to the programing is the Mobile Maker Lab, which transports and houses all the material Lowland and the other two GO STEM educators need for the classes.

Dovie Wood is the assistant librarian and head of children’s programming at the Grant County Library. She said this year’s STEM camp is different from those in the past.

“I’d never done a three day one,” she said. “It’s always been just an afternoon, and it worked out great.”

Wood said her summer programming has been successful because she tries to find a fun and variety of interactive performers and events.

“The kids just love it because they want to get up and dance and move around,” she said. “They don’t have any idea they’re learning — that’s the best part.”

The STEM camp is the fourth event Wood has brought to Grant County this summer. Grant funding covers the cost of all of her summer programming, so it’s free to the public.

Previous events include a performance by Red Yarn, a Portland-based folksong puppeteer; an introduction to the didgeridoo, a wind instrument indigenous to Australia; and Power Play for the Planet, hands-on event focused on environmental awareness and sustainability that University of Oregon students presented.

Planning summer events starts in January and is a collaboration between Wood and the libraries in Harney, Crook and Lake counties. Wood said collaborating with other libraries in scheduling summer programming saves each library some money and makes it more likely they can book summer programming acts from as far away as Portland.

“It makes it worth their while because they will knock off $100 (or) $200 for each of us if we can guarantee them four or five shows,” Wood said. “It works for everybody.”

The last summer event Wood has planned is the Creature Teachers Reptile Show by Shanti Krens from Mount Angel. The show will take place July 30 at 3 p.m. at the Canyon City Community Hall.

“It’s very world renowned, she’s been on ‘Good Morning America,’” Wood said.

Kirens will bring an assortment of reptiles to the hall for children to interact with. She’ll also educate them about which animals do and do not make ideal pets.

“Kids love all that kind of grody stuff, like snakes and all that,” Wood said.