By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

HELENA–The 2015-16 academic school year may be over, but several students are staying mentally sharp this summer by participating in summer specialty enrichment camps offered through the Shelby County Schools Community Education Program.

Several children ages 6-10 filled Helena Elementary School second grade teacher Pam Clay’s classroom as the students were in day two of a five-day camp called Star Wars STEM Camp.

The specialty enrichment camp is open to all students who are zoned for Shelby County Schools and this particular camp let students put their imagination and creative skills to the test using a Star Wars theme.

“STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math,” said Clay. “We spent today building jet packs, models and even went through an obstacle course. The STEM program is a push to use science and technology together.”

The Star Wars STEM camp offered at HES is June 6-10 from 8:30-11:30 a.m. and each day, students will use different skills to build fun projects while also using technology to play coding games.

On June 7, campers engineered Star Wars characters R2D2 or C3PO, participated in an obstacle laser course and played Star Wars games using the Hour of Code program.

For the remainder of the week, activities will consist of building Star Wars rockets, painting stick Chewbaccas, designing drones, building light sabers and of course watching Star Wars movies.

For those interested in the summer specialty enrichment camps, multiple camps are offered throughout the summer at various schools throughout Shelby County. Fees will vary depending on the classes that are offered.

For more information and to view a full list of dates and times summer camps are offered, visit Shelbyed.k12.al.us/community/enrich.html.