Lavner Education

The summer camp season with Lavner Education has officially concluded! I'm so grateful for my time as an instructor and want to give a huge thank you to the entire USD team. This was a truly transformative and memorable experience. Over the past couple of months, I've had the privilege of both teaching and learning. Each week presented a new group of students, allowing me to apply my technical knowledge and sharpen my mentorship, adaptability, and instructional skills. It was truly inspiring to watch them use their newfound problem-solving and creative skills to bring their projects to life. I had the opportunity to teach a variety of classes, including: 💻 Introduction to Python (Ages 10-15): Students learned core programming concepts like variables, lists, conditionals, and loops. They applied these skills by tackling the "100 Doors Challenge," building personalized "Choose Your Own Adventure" games, and coding classics like Pong and Snake with the Pygame library. All students successfully completed their projects, showcasing their impressive creative and problem-solving skills. 🎮 Coding with Scratch 101 (Ages 6-8): This introductory course taught the fundamentals of block-based programming. Students learned about variables, sprites, and sounds to create an interactive Pancake Kitchen game, using conditional statements to control cooking and restaurant logic. The creativity was incredible, with each student infusing their own flair into their final "Choose Your Own Adventure" story. 🦸 Superhero with STEM (Ages 8-10): Campers designed their own superhero, complete with a unique backstory and comic book. They then brought their heroes to life by programming CodeyRocky robots using mBlock. Students integrated LEDs and object sensing into their code, successfully completing complex challenges and demonstrating an impressive understanding of applied robotics. *Students’ faces are not shown in this post to protect their privacy.

That’s a wrap! Today marks the end of my internship at Lavner Education as a STEM Instructor—and what an incredible 8 weeks it’s been! I had the privilege of teaching and inspiring brilliant young minds across a wide range of ages and skill levels. From debugging Scratch code, to introducing electricity through Minecraft Redstone, to programming robots in Python to autonomously solve mazes—every course challenged me to break down complex concepts into elementary and engaging lessons. One of the most valuable lessons I learned was the importance of adaptability and collaboration. Each group of students had different skills and interests, so I tailored my instruction to match their passions while ensuring lessons were attainable for their skill levels. I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to my director for mentoring and supporting me this summer. I’m so grateful for the group of fellow instructors I had the chance to connect and learn with! This is truly a transformative experience in which I hold immense gratitude for. I’m grateful for being able to practice collaboration to foster teamwork, adapt instruction to diverse learning styles, and inspire young students! Huge thank you to Lavner Education for this enriching opportunity. I’m confident that the skills I’ve developed will continue to apply across my academic and professional careers.

This summer, I had the incredible opportunity to work as a STEM Instructor with Lavner Education, helping students explore robotics, coding, and other hands-on technology projects. From guiding students through their first lines of code to watching their faces light up when their robots came to life, it was amazing to see curiosity turn into confidence. I loved creating an environment where learning felt like play and every day was an opportunity to innovate. A huge thank you to my fellow instructors and the Lavner Education team for making this such a supportive and inspiring place to teach. I’m leaving the summer not only with great memories, but also a deeper appreciation for the role STEM education plays in empowering the next generation of thinkers, creators, and leaders.