If you have driven around Sampson County, you have probably seen an 18-wheeler with the words Sampson Community College plastered on its sides. Last week, one of these trucks traveled to Roseboro Elementary School so students there could look at it up close and personal.
Touch-a-Truck was an event held at the school designed to give students a chance to do something they probably have never done before: see what an 18-wheeler truck is like up close.
“When you first think about it, you might say ‘well I see those on the highway every week,’” said Fred Stamey, director of Transportation Programs at SCC. “But when you’re a kid and you stop for a second and see one that close, it becomes this massive piece of machinery that is quite overwhelming.”
The event was just another in a series of outreach efforts by the college to involve students of all ages and let them know that, no matter how young they are, they can always begin thinking of what it is they would like to do in the future.
Just last week, Warsaw Elementary School invited SCC’s Coordinator of Building and Industrial Programs, Barney Grady, to its campus during its STEAMA initiative.
STEAMA stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math and Agriculture. STEAMA is designed to widen each student’s perspective of local and global communities by providing relevance to curriculum, college and career opportunities.
“We want the community to realize that we are here for everyone,” said Stamey. “Whether it be elementary school students, high school students, someone who has graduated or someone who has not, anything we can do to spark an interest at some level and make them a part of what we do, that is what we are here for. At the very least, these kids were treated to an unusual experience at school, and even if that alone is all they get from it, then that’s exciting too.”