For the second summer, LIGO teamed with Walla Walla's Pioneer Middle School and WSU GEAR UP to offer Space and Technology Boot Camp to Pioneer students in grades 6, 7 and 8. Readers can peruse last year's STBC article to learn the basics of this two-week program. Student feedback from the 20007 version indicated that few changes were required in the overall program structure; the 2008 camp unfolded along the same lines as its predecessor. The largely new staff of six teachers brought high energy and enthusiasm to the initial training with LIGO Outreach Coordinator Dale Ingram. Ingram visited the Pioneer site several times during the two weeks of project time at the Pioneer site. As was the case in 2007, the camp highlight was the poster session at LIGO during which Pioneer students shared their data analysis, electronics and computer programming results with a number of LIGO and WSU Early Outreach staff members.

The camp structure challenges the instructors. Coming from diverse areas of personal expertise and certification, they must assimilate the framework of the camp curriculum in a single training session. The Camp's philosophy is to facilitate an open-ended, self-paced approach that encourages students to collaborate as they build knowledge and skill in each area of work. Instructors play a key role in modeling teamwork, problem solving and independent thinking; these are key student outcomes for the program.