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Bridging Ideas, Towering Ambition: Inside BranchOut!’s Record-Breaking DMV STEAM Camp


When 20+ eager young innovators stepped into the Richard Byrd Library in Springfield, VA, on Saturday, July 25th, they were met with a simple yet formidable task: build the ultimate bridge out of plastic straws and construct a towering skyscraper using only index cards.


What followed was two hours of sheer creativity, intense teamwork, and breakthrough moments. As one of BranchOut!’s largest community STEAM Camp sessions of the summer in the DMV area (DC/MD/VA), the event brought together rising 2nd through 8th graders from across the region, including returning families and dedicated participants who traveled from Maryland.


A Journey Across the DMV

BranchOut! first launched its library-based STEAM Camp program in 2022 at the Pohick Library in Burke, Virginia. Since then, the movement has expanded across the region, bringing hands-on engineering to communities at the Tysons-Pimmit Library, Rockville Memorial Library, and now Springfield, thanks to BranchOut! student leaders who were eager to branch out and serve new communities.


"Watching returning families walk through the door alongside new faces who drove across state lines reminds us why we do this. STEAM isn't just a subject—it's a universal language that brings communities together."

Challenge 1: The Ultimate Straw Bridge

The day kicked off with an engineering test of ultimate strength: Build a straw bridge capable of supporting as many heavy library books as possible.


To set the stage, BranchOut! student mentors introduced core structural principles, explaining how triangle trusses distribute weight and how strengthened joints counteract tension and compression.


Rather than waiting for the final test, the young engineers immediately put the iterative design process into action:

  • Proactive Testing: Groups routinely placed small weights on their structures during the build phase to identify structural weaknesses in real time.

  • Rapid Adaptation: Weak points were reinforced with extra trusses before the official weigh-in.

  • Record-Breaking Results: When final testing arrived, the top-performing straw bridges held an astonishing 10+ heavy library books before giving way!


Challenge 2: The 20-Card Skyscraper

For the second challenge, the focus shifted from weight capacity to vertical height—with a severe resource limit: exactly 20 index cards and 24 inches of tape.


To push the limits of their imagination, mentors intentionally omitted example towers from the presentation slides. Faced with a blank canvas, every group took a radically different approach:

  • Pillar Engineering: Some teams rolled cards into tight, load-bearing cylinders.

  • Interlocking Meshes: Others cut precise slits into the cards to build self-supporting lattices without wasting tape.

  • Tapered Designs: Advanced groups used full-sized cards at the base and smaller cut pieces near the peak to reduce top-heavy weight.


The result? A room filled with entirely distinct architectural wonders, proving that constraint is the ultimate catalyst for innovation. We were impressed to see a team of young people ration their tape by cutting the 24-inch tape into small pieces to ensure they had enough for the structure.


Lessons Beyond the Science

While the children built bridges and towers, they were also building something far more important: resilience and teamwork. Spanning grades 2 through 8, the teams blended different age groups seamlessly. Older students learned to listen to the fresh, imaginative ideas of younger teammates, while younger kids learned how to apply structured testing to their ideas. For our BranchOut! high school mentors, the most rewarding part was seeing the kids embrace a core engineering mindset: a collapsed tower isn't a failure—it's just data for the next attempt.


Looking Ahead

We want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the curious students, supportive parents, and dedicated mentors who made this summer unforgettable. Want to bring BranchOut! STEAM programming to your local library or school? Explore our upcoming events and volunteer opportunities on our home page!



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