Students Learn Animation, Robotics and Applications in Health Care
| A program called UAMS NERDIES Health Sciences Camp recently gave some sixth through eighth graders the chance to learn how digital art and design could be combined with health care careers.
Former Disney artist and camp instructor David Kersey teaches digital animation to a student.
Taught by a Northwest Arkansas digital art and design school called PIXEL, the program was brought to UAMS at the invitation of the Center for Diversity Affairs to inspire the students to consider pursuing health care careers.
The week-long July camp offered participants the option to learn either 3D digital animation or robotics, with PIXEL providing the curricula and hardware. Each day both classes heard from experts at UAMS how those fields can translate to careers in health care.
“This was their first time offering their program here in central Arkansas,” said Odette Woods, J.D., the senior director who managed the program for Diversity Affairs. “While their focus was on animation and robotics, we really wanted to ensure there was a health sciences component to it as well.”
A student works on his robot during the week-long NERDIES camp.
Native Arkansan David Kersey, one of the program instructors and the executive director of PIXEL, worked for Sony Pictures and the Walt Disney Company as an animation artist on films such as The Polar Express, The Chronicles of Narnia, Tangled, Wreck It Ralph and Frozen.
The new program filled a gap in the center’s summer outreach offerings, which include the Junior STEM Academy for students in kindergarten through sixth grade and the Academy for Pre Health Scholars, which is open to high school students, from freshmen to seniors.
“We were very intentional in targeting this age group,” said Woods. “It’s important that we bolster this particular part of the educational pipeline, because that’s when students are making a lot of important decisions that will shape their academic future.”
Woods also noted that the program specifically sought participants from underrepresented populations, whether determined by household income, gender, race or ethnicity. Guest speakers were also chosen with diversity in mind, all with the intent of reinforcing the lesson that students are not limited by their circumstances.
Students hard at work during the NERDIES camp.
“We want to show them the path,” said Woods. “These kids have dreams about what they want to do working with technology. So, in addition to talking about things like robotics in prosthetics or animation in computer imaging in health care, our UAMS faculty and staff explained what classes these students need and answered their questions to help them understand how they can achieve their dreams.”
At the end of the week, students presented their work. For those in digital animation, that included short films they’d created. Robotics students built robots and pitted them in competition against each other.
“It was really a wonderful week,” said Woods. “These kids, who came from all over central Arkansas, now have a lot more opportunities, and now we can help them continue to pursue their interests through our other programs.”