This summer, ALICE Community Center brought students together for three days of hands-on learning and career exploration through STEAM Up Your Summer, our 2026 summer camp.

Hosted at Central Alabama Community College’s Childersburg Campus, the camp gave rising 8th–12th grade students an opportunity to explore science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) beyond the traditional classroom. Through hands-on workshops, conversations with professionals, and team-based activities, students were introduced to the many ways STEAM connects to real-world careers and their own futures.

Learning by Doing

Throughout the camp, students stepped into CACC classrooms and labs to experience technical career pathways firsthand. Students participated in workshops focused on welding, precision machining, and industrial electronics, learning from instructors while getting an up-close look at the skills and technology that power today’s workforce.

An architecture workshop, led by Architect Andrew C. Bryant, challenged students to think about how ideas become physical spaces, introducing another intersection of creativity, design, engineering, and problem-solving.

The experience was designed not simply to tell students about career opportunities, but to give them the chance to see, ask questions, and engage directly with the work.

Students also explored STEAM from perspectives they may not immediately associate with the field. Charlize Ramos of CBS 42 introduced students to the world of journalism, sharing how a news station operates and what a typical day looks like for a reporter.

Students from Auburn University’s Kinesiology Department brought another dimension to the camp by demonstrating the science behind human movement. Through exercises and interactive demonstrations, students explored biomechanics and learned how science and technology help us better understand the human body.

Turning Ideas Into Action

A major part of the three-day experience challenged students to become planners, problem-solvers, and presenters.

Working in teams, students developed their own event concepts from the ground up. They created budgets, developed promotional materials, worked through logistics, and ultimately presented their final ideas to a panel of community leaders, including Janice Grohs of Renasant Bank, former NBA All-Star and ALICE founder Gerald Wallace, and beloved community member Sway McGowan.

The activity encouraged students to combine creativity with practical skills such as financial decision-making, teamwork, communication, and public speaking.

Exposure Creates Possibility

STEAM Up Your Summer reflects a larger goal of ALICE Community Center: helping young people see more possibilities for themselves by connecting education to experiences, careers, and people they can learn from.

Over three days, students moved between technical labs, science demonstrations, career conversations, creative projects, and presentations. Each experience offered a different answer to the same question: What could your future look like?

The camp would not have been possible without the educators, professionals, community members, and partners who gave their time and expertise to our students. We are especially grateful to Central Alabama Community College for opening its Childersburg Campus and helping create an environment where students could explore, learn, and discover. A huge thank you to our friends at Renasant Bank and the Kiwanis Club of Childersburg for helping to provide meals.

At ALICE, we believe opportunities like these can help young people connect what they are learning today with what they can accomplish tomorrow.

And this summer, our students did exactly that.