There’s a new kind of summer camp making its way through Grand Bahama, and it’s not about swimming or sports. It’s about robotics, drones and code.
The camp is called Future Engineers, led by Dr. Shalen Unika Chase and electrical and electronic engineer Job Gumbs. Both originally from Trinidad, the two educators have run similar programs together across London and Liberia, but landed in The Bahamas after visiting and deciding to bring that same tech culture here. They started in New Providence, and once Freeport parents caught wind of it, they expanded east.
The curriculum covers STEAM (yes, with the A for agriculture) through robotics, electronics, computer programming and drone development. As Gumbs put it, drones are basically robots that fly, so it all connects.
What stood out most wasn’t the tech itself. It was the mindset. Chase says most of the kids walked in with zero coding experience, but that was never really the point. In a world where anyone can pull up a YouTube tutorial or ask ChatGPT for an answer, the real goal is teaching kids how to think through problems on their own. That’s the engineer mentality they’re chasing.
And the camp doesn’t stop when the week ends. A robotics club is already in the works, meeting three Saturdays online and one in person each month, keeping that momentum alive long term.
One detail that hits different: their volunteer this year, Ronald Caruth, is a former camper from years back, now finishing his degree in electronic and electrical engineering. Full circle energy.
Chase and Gumbs say Bahamian kids are just as curious and capable as anywhere else in the world. All they needed was the exposure.
If this is what’s brewing in classrooms and camps across the islands, the next generation of Bahamian engineers might already be closer than we think.
