If it looks like they have fun in the classroom, that’s because they do.

Whether they realize it or not, their future career pathways could be staring them right in the face.

Such is the golden learning opportunity that awaited students as the Northern Lehigh School District held its fifth Annual STEAM Summer Camp.

Under the guidance and sponsorship of the Northern Lehigh Education Foundation and local businesses, the camp is open to students of the district entering third through eighth grade in the 2023-2024 school year.

STEAM Summer Camp provides students with student-centered, project-based and inquiry-driven opportunities to investigate careers, conduct experiments, and expand their understanding of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.

STEAM Camp began Monday and ran through Thursday of this week. It then continues Monday through Thursday of this week.

The camp is for students in grades 3 to 6 at Slatington Elementary School, and grades 7 to 8 at Northern Lehigh Middle School.

Henry Schnaufer, entering fifth grade, said this was his third year attending the summer camp at Slatington Elementary.

“I like how we get to do projects,” said Henry, 10. We get to be creative, do our stuff on our own.”

Henry said Wednesday morning he was looking forward to making a white pizza as part of the camp’s activities.

Elsewhere throughout the building, soon-to-be sixth-graders Alena Arampatzis and Mackenzie Maikits could be seen in the beginning stages of making hurricane shelters.

“It’s fun, and you get to learn a lot of new things,” said Alena, 11.

“It’s just all fun,” added Mackenzie, 11.

A total of 96 students participated in the program, 80 of which were from Slatington Elementary, and 16 of which were from Northern Lehigh Middle School, according to STEAM Camp director Timothy Weaber.

Weaber noted that The Neffs National Bank recently gave a generous donation of a $23,000 EITC grant to the district’s Education Foundation to support the district’s summer STEAM camps.

Weaber said it’s vital for the students to have the chance to discover STEAM-related careers.

“It’s so important that we provide the students opportunities to learn about possible careers in STEAM, because that’s where the jobs are going to be when they graduate from college,” Weaber said.

Dr. Jen Butz, camp coordinator, added that the goal of STEAM Summer Camp is to “pique their interests” in the various fields that may one day play an important part in their lives.