Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf is offering a free one-week summer program for college-bound deaf and hard-of-hearing students from the Central Valley California area to learn more about various careers related to agriculture and environmental science. This marks the first time RIT/NTID will offer a program on the West Coast.
Discovering Agriculture through STEM™, or DATS™, will run June 24-29 at Fresno State University for deaf and hard-of-hearing students entering grades 10, 11 and 12 in fall 2018.
Taught by deaf professors from RIT/NTID, the first and largest technological college in the world for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, located in Rochester, New York, students will discover what types of careers fit their interests; enjoy hands-on activities related to horticulture, solar energy, agriculture, food science and sustainable engineering; create their own solar USB charging device to take home; experience life on a college campus and meet other deaf and hard-of-hearing students with similar interests.
The program will have a mixture of career exploration and STEM workshops, including The Invisible World of Microbes; Curds, Whey, & Cones, Dirt… it’s good for you!; Solar Panel Charger; and Irrigation. Students also will be touring FSU’s Creamery, Solar Panel Facility, Planetarium and Water Irrigation Facility.
Since students and instructors will have various communication preferences, RIT/NTID is contracting with the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Service Center in Fresno to ensure interpreters are present for all courses and tours.
RIT/NTID is receiving support from FSU’s Department of Communicative Sciences and Deaf Studies as well as the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Service Center and California’s Department of Vocational Rehabilitation.
The program is open to students who are California residents residing in Central Valley, and financial support for travel is available.
For more information, visit https://www.ntid.rit.edu/dats. Source: https://www.ntid.rit.edu/news/
