Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 61F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph..
Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 61F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph.
Updated: July 21, 2026 @ 5:18 pm
Parents try out a few of the games created by the kids in one of the four modules in the second week of Camp Invention.
Tinley and Raelyn show off some of their projects after attending the second week of Camp Invention, which took place earlier this month.
Camp Invention students show off a water experiment as part of their end of camp celebration with their families earlier this month.
Parents take a look at some of the games designed by the students at one of the four Camp Invention modules.
The dozens of students at Camp Invention’s second week show their parents some of their work at their capstone presentation.

Parents try out a few of the games created by the kids in one of the four modules in the second week of Camp Invention.
Tinley and Raelyn show off some of their projects after attending the second week of Camp Invention, which took place earlier this month.
Camp Invention students show off a water experiment as part of their end of camp celebration with their families earlier this month.
Parents take a look at some of the games designed by the students at one of the four Camp Invention modules.
The dozens of students at Camp Invention’s second week show their parents some of their work at their capstone presentation.
Earlier this month, families gathered at Prairie Wind Elementary for a celebration of creativity, innovation and science, as well as a few robots, built by the kids themselves.
Camp Invention took place at the school over two week-long sessions in late June and early July. Camp Invention is a national program offered through the National Inventors Hall of Fame, and it aims to cultivate an interest in science in young children by providing hands-on science activities.
“I think that the kids and the community, they both benefit both in the same way,” long-term substitute teacher and UW teaching student Mya Lockwood said. “The kids are learning about science, and they’re the future… In “Operation Hydro Drop,” we learned about the environment and how to clean our water. Especially with AI and the data centers, it’s really important to learn about how to clean our water, how to reuse our water, and then where our water comes from.”
Students in grades K-6 had the chance to dip their toes into a range of fields from water purification and flood technology with Operation Hydro Drop, physics through the lens of sports in “In the Game,” light, bioluminescence and circuitry in “Let’s Glow” and even innovation and the basics of patents at “Prototyping Studio,” meant to spark an early interest in science-based learning.
Prairie Wind Elementary School Special Education Teacher Dawn Tystad has served as executive director of Gillette’s Camp Invention for the past six years, and has worked with it since it started four years before that. Programs such as these are important in nurturing the next generation in not just staying and building up Gillette and Wyoming, but determining their future.
“By the time (the kids) are ready to graduate, they’re leaving,” Tystad said. “They’re not staying in town for Gillette College, they’re not staying around for UW. They’re leaving, going to other states, and we have so much to offer here, and we have a ton of resources, so we are on a mission to keep Gillette and Wyoming’s youth in our state and grow our state that way.”
In addition to pointing out a number of potential careers for the kids, a number of the participating Prairie Wind Elementary faculty appreciated the program giving the students a chance to work together over the summer break, learning STEM content while having some fun along the way.
“It’s great for children to be working together in small groups, especially outside of school, and all this hands-on work, they love to do it and they don’t realize that they’re learning while they are inventing and creating,” second grade teacher Ramsey Wendt said. “I think them being involved in things outside of the school year, like coming to these summer camps, I think it just creates a good community for Gillette.”
Growing each year over its 10-year history, Tystad said 2026 saw a surge of interest in the program after its first week, with many junior high students serving as helpers, and the second week saw a waitlist form after the 40 spots were quickly snapped up.
While Tystand said that many high schools have programs to support kids interested in various science and trade-based disciplines, from FFA to CTE, there aren’t many programs at the elementary school level to help ignite that spark.
“As elementary teachers, we don’t really have the availability to do that because the curriculum is just pushing so much of reading and so much of math that we can’t do a lot of STEM, that career training at a young age,” she said. “We wanted to bring it down to a younger level and partner with the trades, and that’s why the Association of General Contractors of Wyoming joined in with Camp Invention.”
Speaking on the program, Tystad also highlighted the role of organizations like the AGC in keeping Camp Invention running and growing, pointing to their support by providing $10,000 in scholarships each year, split between the two camps, to help families pay for the camp’s $285 per-student price tag.
Tystad noted that this year, the organization, alongside the National Inventors Hall of Fame, were able to provide an additional 10 scholarships to kids participating in the second week of modules.
Growing each year, Tystad stated she hopes to see the program reach even more students in 2027, (with signups for the two weeks before and after the Fourth of July week) the teachers hoping to provide plenty of new material for students across Campbell County.
“We’ve got so many blessings here in Gillette,” Tystad said. “We’ve got such great community support.”
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