Intended Audience: High School Juniors
Join us for a personalized on-campus experience and get a glimpse of South Dakota Mines! During this event, you will have the opportunity to learn about various aspects of student life, such as living on campus, career placement, and internships. You will also have the chance to participate in a live Q&A panel with some of our current students, interact with academic departments, representatives from Financial Aid and the Registrar’s offices, and explore our campus.
Throughout the event, our friendly staff and students will be available to assist you and answer any questions you may have. If you are unable to attend the event after registering, kindly contact us to cancel your registration.
We look forward to welcoming you to our campus soon!
Intended Audience: Grades 9th-12th
Materials, Metallurgy & Forensics
If you already know what a metallurgical engineer does and what doing a ‘forensic investigation’ entails, then you know how cool this camp will be!
In case you do not know about this field of engineering, here are just some of the things you will do at this camp:
Learn about metals, nanomaterials, composites, and polymers
Get hands-on with heat treating, blacksmithing, welding, and casting
Do materials testing (i.e., impact and tensile strength testing) and materials characterization using an optical and scanning electron microscope
Practice forensic engineering by investigating how materials fail and investigate the authenticity of historic metal artifacts.
This day camp is supported by the ASM Materials Education Foundation. Students will learn from professors at South Dakota Mines.
Intended Audience: Grades 9th-12th
Science of Pottery and Glass
The unique minerals of the Black Hills region provide the perfect ingredients to form colorful pottery and glasses. This summer day camp provides high school students with a novel experience to learn about the science behind the creation of pottery (ceramics) and glasses through hands-on laboratory activities using Black Hills minerals. The experiences in this camp will inspire students to better understand mineral resources and how utilize them to create functional materials. Topics covered in the camp will include:
Color Theory (learn the science and art of using color)
Clay-body Formation (create your own clay recipe)
Clay-body Processing (learn pottery techniques such as pinch pots, coil pots, throwing pottery)
Glaze Creation (learn glaze recipe chemistry)
Glass Forming (conduct glass fusing and torch-work)
Characterization (conduct scanning electron microscopy)
Intended Audience: Grades 10th-12th
Mining & Explosives Camp
Get ready for an explosive experience and a week you won’t soon forget! You will spend the week learning the science behind explosives and seeing how engineers use detonations to unearth precious minerals, shape the landscape, or even sculpt Crazy Horse and his horse™ head from a mountain side.
Intended Audience: Grades 9th-12th
Overnight Geology Rocks!
Are you ready to dig into Geology?
The Geology Rocks! summer camp provides high school students with the opportunity to learn about potential careers in the geosciences. Campers observe the world-renowned Black Hills geology and the role it plays in surface and ground-water quality, geologic hazards, mineral resources, and paleontology. Potential field trips include:
From the ancient rock layers of the Black Hills, to the crystals and natural formations of area caverns and the fossils in the Badlands, the unique geology of the Black Hills region makes Geology Rocks! a one-of-a-kind camp available only at South Dakota Mines. Topics that students will learn about — through real experiences or hands-on learning activities — include:
Discussion of minerals, rocks and fossils, and their relation to Black Hills geologic history
1. Basic geologic concepts
2. Topographic and geologic map use as well as compass navigation
3. The importance of water both to society and geologic processes
4. Mineral exploration and extraction
5. Rock and mineral collection!
6. An active gold mine
7. A cave tour
8. The Mammoth Site
9. Badlands National Park
10. Many other sites of geologic interest throughout the Black Hills
The experiences in this camp will inspire students to better understand the natural world and to be able to interpret the stories that are contained in the rocks and landforms around us.
Intended Audience: Grades 9th-12th
Pre-Med @ Mines
Pre-health Science Camp
Join us at South Dakota Mines to begin your pathway to a healthcare career! Our health science camp will provide you with the opportunity to explore various healthcare pathways through discussions with students and local professionals, hands-on laboratory experiences, and tours of local clinical facilities. Come get glimpse of your future in healthcare at South Dakota Mines…. for a fun and pre-health pathways to careers in healthcare.
Join our Health Science faculty on for this exciting summer camp!
Intended Audience: Grades 9th-12th
Musical Electronics
Please note that this is a female only camp. If you are not female and you register, your registration will be canceled.
Interested in how electronic devices work? Interested in how we can use them to produce sound and make music? This camp will explore the basics of electronics and how a few simple elements can be used to generate amazingly diverse arrangements of tones, beats and effects. We will take you from the basic skills of soldering and programming to constructing your own music generating machines. Each student will take home an electronic instrument they build. No background in electronics or music is required.
Intended Audience: 6-9th Graders
The University of South Dakota School of Education offers a week-long summer program for gifted and high achieving students entering grades 6-9 in the fall of 2023 who want to expand their strengths and make lifelong friends. We believe each child is gifted in a unique way, and we welcome anyone who is eager to challenge themselves and build upon their talents.
The South Dakota Governor’s Camp is focused on STEAM education. Students who successfully complete 12 rigorous educational sessions will be eligible to receive a STEAM medal and will be recognized at the closing ceremony.
In addition to our STEAM class offerings, we have many sessions that will match your unique interests and talents. You’ll get a taste of college life, eating with friends in the dining hall and living in USD dorms. You’ll hear from inspiring speakers, and you will engage in a variety of team building and recreational activities.
You’ll go beyond the classroom and take hands-on courses in the subjects that interest you. Previous classes have included:
- Robotics
- Intro to Guitar
- Bird Banding
- Veterinary Dissection
- Visual Art
- 3D Printing
- And many more!
Whether you’re an aspiring scientist, a talented musician or still unsure, the South Dakota Governor’s Camp will help you discover and develop your passion.
Registration is open now until June 1st. Click here to register.
Intended Audience: High School Students
Discover your place at Go To Mines. Join us for a personalized on-campus experience and get a glimpse of South Dakota Mines! During this event, you will have the opportunity to learn about various aspects of student life, such as living on campus, career placement, and internships. You will also have the chance to participate in a live Q&A panel with some of our current students, interact with academic departments, representatives from Financial Aid and the Registrar’s offices, and explore our campus.
Contact: Molly.Moore@sdsmt.edu
Intended Audience: High School Juniors and Seniors
Explore your future at Mitchell Tech! During the Exploration Day session, participants can choose from the various activities, including visits to classes and labs in any of Mitchell Tech’s programs/majors, opportunitiy to learnabout financial aid opportunities, and aquestion and answer session.
Contact: heather.kulm@mitchelltech.edu
