MTSU Mondays: Academy hosts cadets, youth club joins digital 'Voice'
Here's the latest news from Middle Tennessee State University.
Civil Air Patrol cadets for immersive experience at 2023 E-Tech academy
Civil Air Patrol cadets from across the country recently participated in a national-level science and engineering academy hosted by the College of Basic and Applied Sciences.
The 31 youths are part of the U.S. Air Force volunteer civilian auxiliary’s National Cadet Engineering Technology Academy, also known as E-Tech, which MTSU has hosted since 2017. The 31 cadets, selected through a competitive process, hail from as near as Tennessee and as far away as Hawaii, Minnesota, Iowa, and Texas — and even one from Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Five additional cadets and six adult members are attending as staff.
“E-Tech is a fantastic exposure to all the different technical departments across the university — with lots of hands-on fun,” said Cadet Capt. Seth Damsgard of Minneapolis, Minnesota, who is serving as the academy’s cadet commander.
The cadets, who were on campus July 9- 15, stayed in MTSU residence halls and attended activities covering aerospace, engineering technology, physics and astronomy, data science, concrete and construction management, geosciences, biology, chemistry, and mechatronics.
The academy also featured an experience in the high-tech MakerSpace in the James E. Walker Library; activities with MTSU’s Army ROTC program; a visit to the College of Media and Entertainment's Recording Industry Studio D; a presentation by officials from the Murfreesboro plant for General Mills; and a seminar led by retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Huber, the university’s senior adviser for veterans and leadership initiatives.
Among the hands-on activities by the cadets at the academy: Piloting aerospace flight simulators, driving “moon buggies” built by Engineering Technology students, working ground-penetrating radar and using the electronic marksmanship course under the watch of Army ROTC instructors.
“My favorites have been creating in the MakerSpace, driving the engineering vehicles, and flying in the simulators,” Damsgard said. “This unique experience will spark new interests for all us cadets.”
“MTSU has once again rolled out the blue carpet for Civil Air Patrol,” said Lt. Col. Robert Gilbert of Winter Haven, Florida, the E-Tech activity director. “Nothing beats the practical experience our cadets are receiving in the classrooms and laboratories in MTSU’s College of Basic and Applied Sciences.”
Digital media camp gives local youth new storytelling ‘Voice’
Twenty young members of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Rutherford County gained hands-on experience in podcasting and digital media literacy during the “Come to Voice” camp June 20-23.
The program, which was hosted in the College of Media and Entertainment, welcomed students in seventh through ninth grades and marked its second year on campus.
School of Journalism and Strategic Media professors Jennifer Woodard and Ken Blake launched the special camp to guide young media users in “gaining the skills and the audacity to tell other people your story, to advocate for yourself and people like you for your community,” said Blake. “This time we around we are focusing on audio skills and the ability to make a podcast and sort of empower them to begin to tell their own stories.”
Journalism alumna Bianca Spencer of Memphis and senior video and film production major Kinsey McBride of La Vergne served as “Come to Voice” instructors.
Twelve-year-old Kingdom Bowen expressed his enthusiasm for the camp, calling it “extremely fun.”
“I’ve learned how to set up a podcast and the different voices you should use, like a professional voice or a normal regular voice, to get different tones,” said Bowen. “Our (podcast) was about TikTok and how parents should monitor how long kids are on screen time.”
MTSU Mondays content is provided by submissions from MTSU News and Media Relations.
This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: MTSU Mondays: Academy hosts cadets, youth club joins digital 'Voice'
