Take off over Esophagus Tower. Navigate through a human stomach. Fly through a tropical rainforest. These virtual adventures are the creations of middle-school kids on computers this summer at Cornell's SciCentr outreach program.

The SciCentr program engages teens, especially those in underserved and minority communities, in science, technology, engineering and mathematics by teaching them how to build playful but educational virtual worlds. It has been up and running for 10 years.

"This is the first year, however, that community college students have been involved," said Margaret Corbit, director of SciCentr.

Cornell student Vaikath Job '10, a math and economics major, and recent graduate Mary Rose Walker '08, a psychology major, both in Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences, trained 11 Corning Community College students to be online mentors and 15 teachers from eight Southern Tier middle schools to work with about 100 middle-school students in the Elmira region.

"Vaikath and Mary Rose trained everyone in Southern Tier SciFair Summer Camp, assigned and supported the members and then roved around the Southern Tier troubleshooting and cheerleading," said Corbit.

The summer camp produced eight virtual worlds on such topics as environmental conservation, tornados, the digestive system, the circulatory system, the rainforest and genetics.

SciCentr, Cornell's online museum of virtual worlds and interactive Web sites, also provided software and server resources. Students will show off their worlds at the 2008 Summer SciFair Showcase at the Wings of Eagles Discovery Center in Horseheads, N.Y. Aug. 14.

Participating schools included Addison Middle School in Addison; Broadway Middle School in Elmira; Campbell Junior High School in Savona; Cohen Middle School in Elmira Heights; Corning-Painted Post Area School District in Corning; Haverling Middle School in Bath; Horseheads Middle School in Horseheads; and Spencer Middle School in Spencer.

The program is a partnership between Cornell's SciCentr, MST-Connect, Corning Community College and Greater Southern Tier BOCES.