The Real Reason Your Child Is Bored of School
(And How to Fix It This Summer)

In Just 8 Weeks, Here's What Your Child Will Learn:

🧱 Week 1: Laying The Groundwork

 Uncover the truth that we live in the best age there ever was for education. You can learn anything you want—even if you're still a teenager! Entrepreneurship and innovation are not limited to experienced adults with college degrees. You'll learn the story of Easton LaChappelle, a teenage entrepreneur who invented an affordable, lightweight robotic arm for people with upper limb deficiencies—all beginning with a prototype made out of Legos!

We'll also order all the materials for the remote-controlled sun shade.

💻 Week 2: Control a Motor Using a Microcontroller

This week, you'll learn how to program the “brain” of your smart sun shade: the ESP32 microcontroller. We'll explore how computers control motors, sensors, and other electronic devices using code. By the end of class, you'll upload your own program to the ESP32 and successfully control the movement of a stepper motor.

🔨 Week 3: Building the Shade Mechanism

Engineering isn't just coding—it's also designing reliable physical systems. This week, students will build the actual roller shade mechanism using shade fabric, rollers, brackets, and a motorized drive system. We'll learn about torque, alignment, mechanical design, and how engineers solve real-world physical problems.

🎯 Week 4: Limit Positions + Reliability

Students will program their shade to recognize safe upper and lower limits so it stops automatically without over-rotating. We'll also focus on calibration and reliability to make the system run smoothly and consistently.

📲 Week 5: Designing the Control Interface

What good is a smart device if you can't control it? This week, students will design a simple phone-based app that communicates wirelessly with the ESP32. We'll learn how devices communicate over wireless networks and build a basic webpage with buttons to raise, lower, and stop the shade directly from a smartphone.

🔬 Week 6: Housing + CAD

This week introduces students to computer-aided design (CAD) and 3D printing. Using beginner-friendly CAD software, students will design a custom housing to hold the electronics and motor for their sun shade. We'll discuss how engineers create prototypes, iterate on designs, and manufacture custom parts using 3D printers.

🏁 Week 7: Final Assembly + Debugging

 This week, students will put everything together into a complete working system. We'll assemble the electronics, install the motor housing, connect the control interface, and perform final testing. By the end of class, each student will have a functioning remote-controlled smart sun shade they can demonstrate and continue improving at home.

🗻 Week 8: Showcase Day

Parents are encouraged to attend the final week of the summer program. Each student will prepare a brief presentation sharing what they built, the challenges they overcame, and what they learned throughout the engineering process. We'll reflect on the fun we had together this summer and explore additional opportunities for students to continue learning, building, and innovating long after the program ends.