Sampson Community College’s reach, when it comes to educating students, is not limited by the borders of Sampson County. Warsaw Elementary School invited SCC’s Coordinator of Building and Industrial Programs, Barney Grady, to its campus during its STEAMA initiative.
Over the last several weeks, fifth graders at Warsaw Elementary have been learning about the relationships between energy, work, force, and horsepower. To culminate their lessons, Grady provided students with a hands-on opportunity to see these concepts in action.
“We were able to show them about how hydraulic systems with a Bobcat loader,” says Grady. “They use pressurized fluid to power an engine. Students used math measurement skills to convert tons to pounds to understand the magnitude of the work load this machine can handle and explore potential careers in which this piece of equipment and others like it are used and the projects they are capable of completing.”
STEAMA stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math, and Agriculture. STEAMA is designed to widen each student’s perspective of local and global communities by providing relevance to curriculum, college and career opportunities. STEAMA empowers students and teachers by maximizing individual talents through creative freedom and engagement.
Grady says it is always a pleasure to see students take an interest in learning. “They are never too young to get begin thinking about what they want to do in the future,” he says. “You never know—this could be the spark they need to stir their curiosity or see something they remember and later want to pursue.”
The Building Construction Technology curriculum at the college is designed to prepare individuals to apply technical knowledge and skills to the fields of architecture, construction, construction management, and other associated professions. For more information about SCC’s Building Construction Technology discipline, contact Grady at [email protected].