As part of its college preparation mission, WSU GEAR UP supports summer programs at school sites across lower southeastern Washington. GEAR UP and Walla Walla's Pioneer Middle School added LIGO to the summer program mix in 2007. In a programmatic first for the Observatory, these three organizations combined to provide a two-week "Space and Technology Boot Camp" for two dozen Pioneer students. The camp concept: Involve students in entry-level science and engineering projects that parallel the activities of LIGO scientists and engineers. Then bring the students to LIGO and let them interact with professionals over these projects. The ground rules: The camp environment must be highly collaborative and project-oriented. Adults will provide guidance and support; students will build knowledge from the ground up in a self-directed and open-ended framework.

WSU GEAR UP provided the financial support for the camp's staff and activities. Pioneer provided the students, the school site and infrastructure. The school also partnered in a structured staff development program for the camp instructors, using the summer context as a testing laboratory for collaborative teaching strategies then evaluating these strategies, such as lesson study, for use in the regular school program. LIGO provided the work. Three principal activities at the Observatory are electronics, computer programming and data analysis. LIGO Outreach Coordinator Dale Ingram developed student units along these themes. Students used breadboard-based kits (assembled at LIGO), third-party electronics tutorial manuals and a LIGO guide packet to build and test small analog circuits. Pioneer computing staff installed a free Perl interpreter onto computers in the school's lab; students used a LIGO guide to write and test Perl scripts. For data analysis, the camp utilized the LIGO seismic e-lab from the I2U2 Web site to study earthquake behavior, again with the guidance of a LIGO packet.

The Boot Camp program consisted of five steps.

1. Ingram provided an initial training for the six staff members, some of whom were Pioneer faculty and all of whom were connected to the Walla Walla School District.
2. On the camp's first day, all participants came to LIGO for a tour and an overview of how the camp's work relates to LIGO's work. LIGO staff members Josh Myers (below left), Cheryl Vorvick and Michael Landry shared their perspectives on electronics, data analysis and computer programming with the students.
3. For the next eight weekdays, the camp program unfolded at Pioneer from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM, with students spending an hour per day on each of the three work strands. Several undergraduate tutors assisted the camp instructors.

4. At the close of eight days, students prepared display boards that illustrated the highlights of their learning in the three strands.
5. On the last day of camp, the group returned to LIGO, display boards in hand, and hosted a poster session during which staff members from LIGO and the nearby WSU Early Outreach office chatted with the students about their work. Following lunch, Boot Camp closed with some liquid nitrogen fun in the LIGO auditorium

The photos below convey the level of engagement that the students brought to their work and the interest taken by the poster session audience. Many of the students caught sight of some of the important dynamics of science research through their efforts -- initial results are often unsuccessful, success comes through perseverance, knowledge builds on itself, problem-solving is nearly as important as breathing, and collaboration is essential. Feedback from both students and camp staff indicated that the program provided a siginicant and enjoyable experience.