Olive G., Student Attendee

“I really loved it and I will try to come back next year and I will recommend it to my friends. I also really like the way J.D. [of MBDH] taught them. I also like J.D. He’s a good teacher and funny.”

Miriam W., Student Attendee

“It was great, everyone was really nice, and I was able to make new friends. The activities were awesome, I would love to do it again.”

Disha Patel, Undergraduate Student Counselor, St. Catherine University—participating staff member in the data science boot camp

“I wish I had events like this when I was in middle school! Since St. Kate’s is primarily a women’s school, it seemed very inspiring to the students who identified as such. They were in an environment where higher education is promoted, and where women are the focus AND they were around many women who could be seen as inspiring!

I think programs like this should be especially available in rural areas. I grew up in Hutchinson MN, where the thought of women in STEM wasn’t always the focus!”

“J.D. [of MBDH] gave the students space to think for themselves and push themselves to not give up when challenges occurred.”

Michael Hvidsten, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, St. Catherine University—participating faculty member in the data science boot camp

“J.D. [of MBDH] helped to make the camp a success in several ways.

First, he brought fun activities, such as the Murder Mystery and Mars Rover, that helped the campers think in critical and analytical ways. The Mars Rover activity, in particular, fit in well with the coding focus of the camp as the activity required algorithmic thinking and planning.

Secondly, his knowledge gained from teaching middle school was an incredible help in assisting the camp staff deal with campers who had challenges. These included cases of rude behavior and extreme social anxiety. J.D. was super helpful in taking the lead on problem-solving solutions to these situations.

Thirdly, J.D. brought creative ideas on how to plot rocket data so that students could analyze variables such as distance and velocity versus time. This helped integrate the rocket-building and launching activity with the data science focus of the camp.”