The West Point Center for Leadership & Diversity in STEM (CLD_STEM) at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point has announced the inaugural West Point High School STEM Workshop.

The program, which will run from June 3-7, offers students in the 8th and 9th grade the opportunity to participate in hands-on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) activities taught by West Point Academy faculty and cadet mentors.

According to the CLD_STEM Facebook page, the center which opened in 2009, implements programs that attract talent at the pre-college level and supports cadets studying STEM at West Point. Their mission is to increase the recruitment and retention of underrepresented minority and disadvantaged youth populations in STEM.

Previous events CLD_STEM events include a VEX robotics workshop in Texas, where high school students received a presentation on the benefits of pursuing STEM education, and how USMA, the nation’s first school of engineering, teaches those skills to cadets. Students attended the workshop to design and program “portable unmanned ground vehicles.”

In Largo, Florida, CLD_STEM partnered with College for Every Student. Cadets worked with the children to help them troubleshoot their robot designs and get their robot to behave exactly how they wanted. The workshop allowed students and parents to interact with cadets and learn about West Point, the Army, and practical applications of STEM fields.

One of the first CLD_STEM programs was a Mobile STEM Workshop at the Science Museum of Virginia, Richmond, VA. The two-day program was a collaboration between West Point’s Center for Leadership and Diversity in STEM (CLD_STEM), West Point Admissions, the Seeds of Humanity Foundation, the West Point Society of Richmond, the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority, and the Science Museum of Virginia.

CLD_STEM events help underserved youth in their respective communities engage in the world of mathematics and science.