Gov. Ivey visits East Elementary STEM Camp

Published 3:44 am Saturday, July 19, 2025

By Patrick Camp

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Governor Kay Ivey visited Cullman’s East Elementary School’s summer STEM Camp as part of National Summer Learning Week July 15, 2025 in Cullman, Ala. •National Summer Learning Week runs July 14 – 18. During this week, the governor is also separately (on social media) promoting her annual Summer Reading Challenge where she wants to hear from students across the state about the books they are reading.(Governor’s Office /Hal Yeager)

Gov. Kay Ivey paid a visit to Cullman City Schools’ summer STEM Camp at East Elementary on Tuesday, July 15, to witness how local school districts are keeping students engaged even when school is not in session.

Now in its second year, the program allows local K-8 students to conduct interactive experiments involving robotics, coding and engineering as well as art projects and team design challenges.

During her visit, Ivey interacted with several third-grade students learning about the terrain of Mars by constructing robots from collected materials and tried her hand at a marble run made from cardboard tubes to demonstrate potential and kinetic energy.

“Camps like this are just one of the many exciting ways we’re incorporating STEM learning across every grade level in Cullman City Schools, introducing students to new ways to think about how they use science and math for the rest of their lives.” Superintendent Kyle Kallhoff said in a press release.

The camp, hosted in partnership with the city of Cullman Parks, Recreation and Sports Tourism Department, is free to families and funded in part by state grant funding through the Alabama Department of Education’s Office of Extended Learning.

Cullman City Schools received on of 72 grants OXL awarded through a legislative earmark of $2.9 million for summer and after school learning.

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Ivey praised the district for its implementation of the camp and reiterated the State’s commitment to supporting these programs despite the potential for a federal funding freeze.

“Learning doesn’t stop during the summer,” Ivey said. “Learning keeps going, and we want our students to stay abreast of everything and have experiences during the summer that they don’t get during the regular school year.”

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