News Release | Community
UTRGV’s Behavior and Child Development Lab, in collaboration with the STEM Center of South Texas at Region One ESC, is hosting a free, two-week summer camp in Edinburg for autistic children ages 8 to 12. The camp features hands-on STEM activities—including robotics, slime experiments and rocket launches—designed to build early science and engineering skills in a supportive, inclusive environment. (Courtesy graphic)
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
Community, Announcements
By Karen Villarreal
RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – JULY 8, 2025 – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley's Behavior and Child Development Lab (BeChildLab), in partnership with the STEM Center of South Texas at Region One ESC, will host a free, two-week summer camp specially designed for autistic children ages 8 to 12.
“Each week, we will host 30 children for a fun, engaging and inclusive STEM experience,” said Dr. Cecilia Montiel-Nava, professor in the UTRGV Department of Psychological Science and director of the BeChildLab.
Hands-on STEM activities will include building robots to strengthen problem-solving and early engineering skills, creating “galaxy slime” to explore chemical reactions, and launching rockets to observe the laws of physics in action.
The camp will run Wednesday through Friday for two weeks, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Region One Educational Service Center’s STEM Lab (1900 W. Schunior St., Edinburg, TX 78541). The first session begins Wednesday, July 9. The second session will run July 16-18.
Montiel-Nava invites the community to pre-register for the camp by completing a short interest form. The BeChildLab team will follow up to confirm eligibility and provide more details.
“We are deeply committed to supporting the autistic community in the Rio Grande Valley,” she said. “This initiative is our way of giving back to the families who inspire our work every day and may not otherwise have access to a summer camp experience.”
The camp is free and open to the community, but registration is required.
For more information, contact Dr. Cecilia Montiel-Nava at bechildlab@utrgv.edu or (956)665-7950.
ABOUT UTRGV
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) was created by the Texas Legislature in 2013 as the first major public university of the 21st century in Texas. This transformative initiative provided the opportunity to expand educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley, including a new School of Medicine and a School of Podiatry, and made it possible for residents of the region to benefit from the Permanent University Fund – a public endowment contributing support to the University of Texas System and other institutions.
UTRGV has campuses and off-campus research and teaching sites throughout the Rio Grande Valley including Brownsville (formerly The University of Texas at Brownsville campus), Edinburg (formerly The University of Texas-Pan American campus), Harlingen, Weslaco, McAllen, Port Isabel, Rio Grande City and South Padre Island. UTRGV, a comprehensive academic institution, enrolled its first class in the fall of 2015; the School of Medicine welcomed its first class in the summer of 2016, and the School of Podiatric Medicine in the fall of 2022.