A group of students are spending the beginning of summer vacation back in the classroom to learn the hot topics of today’s STEM field.

Camp Invention, a nationally acclaimed summer program, is being held at L.B. Morris Elementary School in Jim Thorpe. This is the fourth year the school participated in the program.

Jim Thorpe School District wanted a hands-on program for students to become more aware of the concepts behind STEM.

“I heard of Camp Invention in a school in the Lehigh Valley five years ago,” Coordinator of Academic Resources Katherine Doll said. “I watched how engaged these students were during the camp.”

A year later, the program was available to students.

This year, about 30 students from second to seventh grades are attending the summer camp. The five-day camp runs from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The day consists of four labs with snack and lunch breaks in between. The topics include DIY Robots, Deep Sea Mystery, Innovation Force and Farm Tech. Each topic discusses STEM and entrepreneurship through interactive activities.

Some activities students worked on were running their own farm, dismantling a robot and putting it back together and catching a fish with an invention created by the student.

“This camp is for open thought,” Gifted Support Teacher and Camp Director Ben Warren said. “Stuff is being made out of nothing.”

Students may take the inventions they created home after the program concludes.

The labs are taught by two elementary school teachers, along with high school students called leadership interns.

Leadership interns assist the teachers and teach the students parts of the labs. In return, they will gain 40 service hours, which can be used for their National Honor Society application.

Many of the students and teachers have participated in the summer camp before. Julianna Birth, who will be entering seventh grade, has participated since the beginning.

Any student who meets the age requirement may participate. The parents of the students pay for the cost of the program.