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It's an experience money can't buy, as The Union of Grass Valley reports.
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| Breanna Sanders, a Lyman Gilmore student, focuses on her application development core class project at the 2016 Tech Trek. Photo: Submitted to The Union |
Girls
attending a week-long summer camp at UC Davis must be nominated by
their teachers, survive a rigorous application process, and thereby earn
the $900 tuition paid by the local branch of the American Association
of University Women.
"Parents can't buy
this for their daughters," said Martha Rees, camp co-director and AAUW
member. "There are a lot of camps out there that parents can pay for.
This is something girls have to earn."
The
camp is called Tech Trek. It encourages middle-school girls to excel in
the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. Those STEM
fields are where the jobs are, but women aren't.
Tech training
Nearly
100 girls from all over Northern California will live together on the
UC Davis campus next month. They'll participate in hands-on learning,
including experiments, workshops, field trips, and other activities.
Tech Trek also introduces girls to women role models working in STEM
careers...
The camp encourages girls to envision
themselves as scientists, engineers, mathematicians, computer
programmers, chemists, and specialists in related careers. Tech Trek was
founded in 1998 with one camp at Stanford University. There are now 10
camps each summer at eight California universities, as well as another
10 camps in eight other states. The local American Association of
University Women branch has sent more than 100 girls to Tech Trek over
the past 10 years.
Campers are all
entering eighth grade in the fall. AAUW research showed that's when
girls' interest and participation in STEM fields wane. The girls are
nominated by their math, science, and technology teachers at public
middle schools across Nevada County. Those nominated assemble an
application that includes an essay. The girls are then interviewed by a
panel of AAUW members, and seven to eight girls are selected.
Source: The Union of Grass Valley
