Watson and Roebuck empower 78 middle schoolers at 'Build-A-Hut' STEM competition

For the second year in a row, Durham School Assistant Professors of Practice Emmeline Lemos Watson and Tony Roebuck mentored and prepared teams of middle school students over the summer for a "Build-A-Hut" STEM competition. This summer program was a collaborative effort organized by Aqua Africa in partnership with Imagine Science, the Durham School, and the Douglas-Sarpy 4-H program through Nebraska Extension.

The program consisted first of a hands-on six-week summer camp. Campers, ranging from 6th to 8th grade, engaged in individual and team-based activities to acquire engineering skills necessary for constructing an African hut in the simulated village of New Maiwut. Weekly topics included learning and working with building materials, computer modeling, systems for providing water and energy to buildings, the significance of sustainability, as well as African hut construction, and South Sudanese culture.

The culminating event during which the teams built an African hut using off-grid technology to produce energy for power and to transport water was held on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023 at the University of Nebraska Omaha. Seventy-eight middle-school students from several counties in Nebraska participated on eight competitive teams. For many of the young participants, it was their first time using power and other hand tools, as they both constructed and de-constructed their structures.

A first-place team received a $1,000 prize, intended to further advance their organization’s math and science programs. Additionally, all competitors were rewarded with a $50 Amazon gift card in recognition of their dedication and participation.

The Durham School is proud of its faculty for their engagement and leadership in this event and extends kudos to the other partnering organizations who supported the camp as well.