At Amazon Australia, we want to inspire young Australians to pursue their passion for science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) by helping them develop their skills and interest in all things STEM.
Camp Amazon is a national school holiday program for kids aged between nine to eleven, from the local communities around our Fulfilment Centres. The program is delivered with Macquarie University and aims to offer 150 students a chance to complete four STEM workshops over the next 12 months during the school holidays.
With the workforce rapidly shifting to increased automation, digital competence and even AI/robotics are becoming more important than ever – and to keep pace with the speed of change, Australia must support school students’ engagement with STEM or we run the risk of being left behind.
“We recognise that the jobs of tomorrow require a strong aptitude for STEM, we see it in our growing business, and want to be part of the solution” said Craig Fuller, Director Of Operations, Amazon Australia.
On their very first day of this year’s sessions, the kids will learn the fundamentals of programming a robot to drive around a fulfilment centre, before programming a LEGO SPIKE robot – they’ll be thinking critically and solving complex problems right from the get-go.
Our focus on showcasing how fun and engaging STEM can be, means the kids come away inspired to continue with STEM classes throughout their education – whether it’s via virtual or in-person classes.
In future workshops, every student participant of Camp Amazon will have the chance to tour their local fulfilment centre and collect exclusive merchandise as they progress and complete each workshop.
Across the two-year program, we’ve seen many students’ passion for STEM grow – alongside their friendships. 11-year-old Nate Jones has been part of the Camp Amazon program since its early days in 2019 and has loved every minute of it.
“Camp Amazon has been lots of fun,” he says.
It’s inspired me to learn more about website coding so I can build my own website. But the best part has been coding robots. I’ve learnt how to make a background picture, how to code an online robot to move and even how to code a real robot to move.
For Nate, an added benefit of the program has been working with his friend Jeremy Azzopardi, also 11. After hearing Nate talk about how much fun he’d been having, Jeremy came along too – and now he wants to be a professional game developer.
“My best friend Nate told me about Camp Amazon and since I joined I’ve have had so much fun learning how to code,” Jeremy says.
The leaders are helpful and give us plenty of time to write in code and have a go at the challenges. I’ve kept coding awesome games in my spare time and one day I’d like to create my own apps as a developer.
This school holidays, Camp Amazon is set to run on the 18th and 19th of January for students in Brisbane, Sydney and Perth, and across the 22nd and 23rd of January for students in Melbourne.
Expressions of interest are currently open until 5pm on the 17th January, you can apply via campamazon.com.au
