Where Creativity Thrives: Why Scott Dunn Calls Camp Invention His Summer Highlight

Every year, a growing number of Camp Invention^® alumni are sharing stories of how this nationally acclaimed summer STEM program has inspired their next steps as they continue on their path of innovation. Starting as a science-loving camper in third grade, Scott Dunn’s transformative experience with Camp Invention goes beyond attending four awesome years of camp. The high school junior returned to camp as a Leadership Intern (LI) to share his unique perspective on problem solving, promote hands-on discoveries and inspire the next generation of campers to pursue their own STEM aspirations.

From exciting experimentation, collaboration with friends and freedom to explore ideas, Camp Invention is where his exciting STEM journey began. In an interview with the National Inventors Hall of Fame^®, Dunn shared why camp became the highlight of his summers.

Thinking Outside the Box to Build Lifelong Skills

Powered by exploration and proven to improve academic outcomes, Camp Invention leads K-6 students to build lasting skills as they collaborate, expand their perspectives and think of themselves as capable creators. From tinkering to making custom robots, Dunn explained that the camper experience “helped me fuel my curiosity.”

“I enjoyed the things that let me express my creativity the most or that taught me something new. There was a module about solar-powered crickets, and I thought it was super cool that you could take energy from the sun to power inventions,” he recalled.

With play and experimentation at the center of developing real-world skills, Dunn created a strong foundation with STEM and technical skills. “I remember working with screws and electronics,” he explained. “That's where I first heard ‘righty-tighty, lefty-loosey.’ Every time I hear that phrase now, I think back to camp.”

Eager to share bold ideas, Dunn described the fascination and curiosity that fueled his early journey with STEM. “One of my favorite stories is how they discovered bacteria. It was not even a scientist; it was a merchant [Antonie van Leeuwenhoek]. But he took a microscope and he examined some pond water thinking that he'd see nothing. He was just curious. And that's when he saw all these different kinds of microbes, bacteria. Being able to think outside the box, that's where a lot of innovation comes from,” he said.

When he later chose to join Camp Invention’s LI program, in which high school and college students serve as mentors to campers, Dunn was motivated to share his belief that outside-the-box thinking is essential to cultivating new ideas. “Innovation doesn't come from being contained,” he said. “As soon as I heard that I could be a leader myself, I jumped to the opportunity, and I've been doing it for the past three years now.”

Certain about the impact he could make, Dunn wrote on LinkedIn, “As a Leadership Intern, I knew exactly how to promote that same hands-on experience by letting the kids be free and expressive in their ideas.”

The Importance of Persistence

By modeling creativity and supporting curious campers as they build their very first prototypes, offering mentorship as an LI has only strengthened Dunn’s beliefs about innovation and its impact on young learners.

Watching campers grow more confident each summer, Dunn noted that persistence makes all the difference. In fact, he explained that campers explore STEM with such vigor and resilience that high schoolers could learn from them. “I see a lot of kids in my chemistry class [for example], as soon as they don't understand something, they'll just completely dismiss it, and they don't care anymore. But for me, I see that as an opportunity to grow, and I think a lot of that can be attributed to Camp Invention,” he said.

Rather than giving up when faced with a challenge, Dunn explains that when campers experience uncertainty, they call over a leader to help explain and work through the challenge. “That way, they can still see the process, and they can get more information. They need a little bit of help, and that’s perfectly fine. It's just knowing ‘I can't give up on this, and I need to keep going.’” This motto is rooted in his own leadership style as he forges a journey where collaboration is key to academic success and personal milestones.

“A lot of my friends do Camp Invention with me, and that really helps me. Just knowing that there's friends there that I can fall back on, that I can trust, makes the camp a lot more enjoyable,” he explained.

Having experienced the benefits of STEM exposure from an early age, Dunn insists, “Interest in STEM at an early age is very important. The young brain is like a sponge, in that it's easy to absorb a lot of information. Being able to teach these kids that it's OK to be curious about STEM and that it’s OK to fail as long as you bounce back — that's really important.”

Reaching for the Stars

As curious campers explore many different facets of STEM and innovation, each immersive experience holds the potential to spark inspiration. Whether they’re building confidence, following their curiosity or playfully exploring innovation, the creative energy at Camp Invention is one-of-a-kind. Looking back on his own experience as a camper, Dunn says his interests in astrophysics evolved over his time attending camp – adding that encouragement from his dad made all the difference.

“At first, I wanted to be a paleontologist or archaeologist digging up dinosaur fossils. But slowly, I transitioned more to math, and that's where I heard about physics,” Dunn recalled. A conversation with his father led Dunn to look more closely at his new interest. “I was on a bike ride with my dad, and he asked me, ‘What kind of physics do you want to do?’” As he considered this question, he began to develop a deep interest in astrophysics. “Astrophysics is probably the coolest world [of physics], because it's not like we can see these other planets, but we can predict exactly where they are with math,” Dunn explained.

Encouraging kids with a budding interest in STEM, Dunn points to curiosity as a powerful starting point. “Don't let anyone take away your curiosity. That's something you should be extremely proud about. Just keep being you, keep enjoying STEM and keep being curious,” he advised.

The Creativity Continues

Dunn’s pathway to leadership is just one example of how authentic interests in STEM are met with inspiring experiences at Camp Invention.

Ready to learn what new STEM experiences are coming to Camp Invention? Visit our website to see which STEM trends will be at this year’s new program, Spark! If you want to keep growing at camp, pathways to leadership are available! We can’t wait to see where innovation takes you next.