Coding on a Raspberry Pi?

Day six of the STEM Camp started off with some fun, yet challenging work the students to do. Today, the students began working with Raspberry Pi’s. A Raspberry Pi is a tiny desktop computer that can do everything a regular sized computer can do. The students got a chance to work with python, which is a programming language used to develop desktop and web applications. While getting acquainted with python, the students created three games, Guess the Number, Dice Roll, and Mad Lib. For the Guess the Number game, the computer will randomly generate a number between one and a hundred. When the user guesses a number, a message will appear saying whether the number is too high, too low, or the number that was guessed is correct. The second game, Dice Roll, allows the user to “roll” the dice by pressing the enter button. Finally, the third game, Mad Lib, give the user the opportunity to create their own story using adjectives, nouns, and past participles.

The guest speaker for today, Mr. Lloyd Eley who is an electrical engineer, started the conversation off with an ice breaker. The students got into groups and worked together to choose one word they would use to describe STEM. After the ice breaker, Mr. Eley began to explain his role as an electrical engineer. Mr. Eley described to the students what he does as an electrical engineer, which includes supplying power to a submarine and designing the launch portion of a torpedo. He is currently a project manager at Dominion Energy in Virginia and as a project manager, Mr. Eley manages solar systems not just in the state of Virginia but also in California. The last three things Mr. Eley left the students with were to identify a mentor, write down goals, and always keep dreaming.

The students during the presentation were very interested in Mr. Eley’s career and asked him some very great questions. As an intern and a senior at Virginia Union University majoring in Computer Information Systems, Mr. Eley’s presentation gave me a lot of insight about being a project manager and electrical engineer. The presentation also allowed me to think about different career paths that I could potentially enter after I graduate. I believe today’s activities enabled the students and interns to think outside the box. Today was definitely a great start to the second week of the STEM Camp.

Written and Photographed by Onnia Thomas

Majoring in Computer Information Systems, Onnia is a STEM Camp 2019 intern and rising senior at Virginia Union University.