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Middle school students are learning by doing at the 10^th annual ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp (EMBHSSC)— a free, two-week residential program for underserved sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students gifted in math and science hosted by Â鶹ÊÓƵ from June 19-July 1.

The campers have been participating in activities like observing and classifying live animals, building robots, and making field excursions to Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center. This year’s camp theme is “Biodiversity: The Spice of Life.”

22-year-old Eric Linares, lead counselor for the male students, attended the first ever EMBHSSC to be offered at Â鶹ÊÓƵ as an 8^th grader. He participated the following year as a junior counselor and has returned to help the camp ever since.

“Children are the future,” he said, “and these children’s future can be brighter than any before so long as we help them start on that path. This camp is designed to spark that journey and give them a taste of what they can do in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) field.

On June 24, Â鶹ÊÓƵ will host a media day in the Dishman Art Museum.

The program’s founder, astronaut Bernard Harris Jr., will join campers via Skype on June 29 at 6 p.m. for an interactive session. Harris was the first African American to walk in space.