Approximately 25 Cumberland High School students attended Southside Virginia Community College’s 2015 Summer STEM Academy titled “Zombies on the Loose” on the John H. Daniel Campus during the week of July 6-9.

Students were given a fictitious message from the CDC Monday morning that the ZLP virus had attacked the cities of Baltimore, Chicago, Phoenix, and Seattle. Working in teams, students researched viruses and historical events related to viral outbreaks, designed and 3-D printed a device that would fit into the human ear to cure Zombiism, determined the best course of action to stop the spread of Zombiism, and created news broadcasts to alert the public of the disease and keep them up to date with additional findings. 

Although this was a fictitious scenario, students discovered how science, technology, engineering and mathematics would assist communities and various other organizations in a time of crisis.

A team of SVCC instructors including Katherine Clatterbuck, Ronnie Cole, John Lloyd, Dr. Christy Lowery-Carter and Christy Shook designed and implemented the curriculum for the event. 

Cumberland High School educators Myrna Barr, Todd Meinhard, Mike Sutton and Mr. Hale completed a project slice the week before the camp and served as coaches for their team of 5-6 students. 

On, July 9, Dr. Amy Griffin, Dr. Chip Jones, and Jeff Scales served as judges, judging the final products and determining the winner of the CDC Choice Award.

STEM is an acronym referring to the academic disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.