A Note From A Parent – Stefani E.

We feel extremely fortunate to have been a part of BlueStamp’s inaugural year in Houston. It was the perfect program for our tech savvy son the summer before his senior year in high school. BlueStamp allowed Clay to merge two of his great interests — computers and engineering. He was truly excited to go to BlueStamp everyday during the program. He learned many new skills that challenged his mind while also allowing him to work with his hands. Clay built two very cool projects that he loves to show off. He even enjoys showing off the massive tangle of wires he removed when his puzzle box didn’t go quite right the first time. Clay gained skills and confidence that will serve him well in the future during his summer with BlueStamp.

A Note From A Parent – Colleen L.

We are in the midst of planning the BlueStamp Engineering Makerfaire booth, and were excited to hear from Colleen about how well Nick is doing with exhibiting his great work!  Thank you Colleen!

“I have never seen [Nick] so fired up to show off what he has done.  The first day of school was yesterday and he proudly brought it to show a variety of teachers. He has had to troubleshoot problems several times already, but it never takes long.  The head of the school is looking to promote what Nick has accomplished through school media publications, and Nick has even had one college offer to fly him up to visit the engineering program this year.  Your program has given him the confidence to tackle new projects and seek out new goals. Wow!”

A Note From A Parent – Karen Z.

Robin and I just received a note from Ariel’s mom and were happy to read that her daughter, like our other students, greatly benefited from the BSE approach of having students take the driver’s seat when solving problems.   While going up against these challenges is tiring, the resulting accomplishment truly belongs to the student.  Thank you Karen!

Our daughter, Ariel, was both exhausted and exhilarated (it’s possible) when she came home every night during the six-week 2011 BlueStamp Engineering (BSE) summer program. Exhausted, because Robin, David and their assistants kept Ariel thinking hard about the engineering challenges she faced every day. Exhilarated, because of the true sense of accomplishment Ariel felt as she faced and resolved these challenges. During the school year, Ariel attends a rigorous academic high school, but has never been as consistently challenged intellectually as she was during the BSE program. In order to build her robotic arm, Ariel had to master on her own many disciplines: from mechanical design to firmware and software coding, electrical engineering and testing. Significantly, the BSE program required Ariel to perform like an engineer in a corporate setting. Each day Ariel began by listing her goals for the day in an engineering notebook, and each evening she marked what was accomplished and what additional efforts were required during the next day. When challenges and unanticipated problems arose, Ariel would consult with the BSE staff, but the task of solving the problem was left to Ariel.  She greatly enjoyed the way the BSE teachers would video record her triumphs after she had resolved a particularly difficult problem.  She also shared in the joys and disappointments of her fellow “engineers” as they proceeded with their own projects. We could go on and on, but the bottom line is that Ariel had a great time and gained tremendous confidence in her ability to achieve in a challenging environment. Kudos to Robin, Dave and the rest of the BSE staff.

A Note From A Parent – Natasha F

Here is a wonderful note from Natasha, Sam’s mom.   It is great to hear a parent echo what we tell others about students — they are committed and face their challenges head on.  Thanks Natasha!

Ever since Sam was a little kid he has had a fascination with how things work, building and fixing things, and getting under the hood of anything mechanical.  BSE was the ideal program for Sam to tap into his natural proclivity towards engineering and realize how that affinity can be adapted to his future course of study. From the very first step of selecting the project, to building his own boom box, to producing technical drawings, Sam showed an unprecedented commitment to completing the challenge.  In addition to the project work, the inclusion of guest speakers was a notable aspect of BSE, and one that had tremendous appeal to Sam.  It was surprising and gratifying to observe how positively Sam responded to the talks given by “real life” engineers.  Robin and Dave, the creators of Blue Stamp, are pros and dedicated to educating kids about the principles and business of engineering.  I would highly recommend this program to fledgling engineers.

A Note From a Parent – Kathleen K.

We were happy to hear that Kathleen saw that her son, James,  not only learned about coding and circuits, but many lessons from the excellent guests we had visit the classroom.  Thank you Kathleen!

My son has always been interested in science but wasn’t entirely sure what an ‘engineer’ did.  He is about to apply to colleges and so wanted to find out if engineering was something he might want to pursue. Blue Stamp not only gave him hands on experience in how an engineer works and what an engineer does but also gave him insight into forming a start-up company with an engineering idea.  He learned from the many guest speakers of their experiences with trying to bring a product into production.  He also learned many valuable lessons in formulating an idea, modifying it, troubleshooting it and finding help online for programming or troubleshooting.  The supervision and assistance in the classroom was hands-on and first rate and I don’t think James could have had a better experience anywhere.  I highly recommend this program.

Kathleen K.

A Note From A Parent – William D.

William D came by with his wife to check out where his son David was learning all about robotics, firmware, and power supply design.  We were glad to hear how David took the excitement we saw every day home with him!

The 2011 BlueStamp Engineering summer program was a terrific opportunity for my son.  The program will engross, occupy, energize, and stimulate any young person with an interest in science and engineering.  My son’s excitement was palpable as he went to the course each day and came home to discuss his work.  He learned the self-discipline, self-reliance, and organization necessary to excel in science, engineering, and life.  The broader lessons that he learned about doing engineering, the self-direction and rigorous application of principles and experiment, will stand him in good stead throughout his education.  The program taught him engineering.  More importantly, the pride he achieved at accomplishing a difficult task by experiment and research in the program gave him an incredible boost in confidence.

William D.