*In this photo:* James Collins (center), chief information officer for the State of Delaware and the keynote for the Verizon DSU Innovative Learning Presentation Day Program, poses with the middle school youths that participated in the three-week summer camp.

On Campus

Closing Verizon DSU event

Monday, July 16, 2018

The Verizon Innovative Learning Camp at DSU held a July 13 Presentation Day in which middle school youths demonstrated what they learned during the three-week camp.

To view images from the event, click on the below slideshow link:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/48216028@N03/sets/72157695947277752/show

Held in the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Center (second floor parlors), the middle school youths showed off the results of the hands-on experience they received in next-generation technologies such as coding, augmented/virtual reality and 3D printing, as well as design thinking training and access to college mentors.

The youths competed in project presentations, and the Air Pollution team – Dissandou Becolli of Holy Cross Middle School, Christopher Connelly of William Henry Middle School, and Sasan Sedigh of Skyline Middle School (Wilmington) – The first-place Air Pollution team -- (l-r) Dissandou Becolli, Christopher Connelly and Sasan Sedighi-Mournani. took first place.

The camp was part of the Verizon Innovative Learning Program which also provides the targeted youths with STEM education activities and mentoring during Saturday sessions throughout the year. DSU – which has been a partner with Verizon in the program since 2016 – received a $300,000 grant earlier this year to continue the program, which is designed to reach out and engage 200 under-resourced middle school males in the First State.

The camp is part of a nationwide Verizon Innovative Learning initiative, toward which the telecommunications company has invested $200 million and has reached more than one million students. Since 2016, Verizon has awarded DSU $700,000 to run the program in Delaware.