At New Mexico Tech, 7th grade girls across the state are invited to apply for TechTrek Summer Camp, an “exciting and engaging one-week summer camp that provides girls with a fun and educational field experience in science and technology.” Travel, opportunities to meet inspiring female role models, and a unique college campus experience.
To attend, families only need to pay a $50 registration fee.
Each year, about 60 girls are hand-picked from their applications. Four from RR 7th grade were able to participate. Participants were Kayah Lucero (left) and Violet Bailey (middle left) from Rio Rancho Cyber Academy and Jade Kumle (middle right) and Olamide Ramoni (right) from Rio Rancho Middle School.
The girls participated in workshops on drones, genetics, the engineering design process, game theory and solar cars. The girls had the opportunity to tour the National Radio Astronomy Observatory Operations Center and the New Mexico Museum of Geology and Mineral Resources. In addition, the girls participated in a geology field trip and a visit to the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge.
“My favorite part of camp was learning about astronomy. This includes stars, black holes and other galaxies. “There are so many things we don’t know yet, so I like to find out,” Camille said.
The camp is sponsored by the American Association of University Women (AAUW), Sandia National Laboratories, ExxonMobil, Walgreens, LANL Foundation and Honeywell.
Cheri Burch, founder of AAUW and TechTrek, said the program wanted girls to have the opportunity to thrive.
“Of course we teach STEM, but the girls also learn that male-dominated fields can be career options for them as well,” she said.
She said science and math are considered too “difficult” to learn, but they can actually be fun subjects.
“I’m surprised that STEM fields are still dominated by men. Some of the camp instructors mentioned being the only women in their college programs. It made me appreciate being able to participate in TechTrek. I felt like it was a great opportunity to be exposed to topics and workshops that girls aren’t expected to participate in,” Bailey said.
The girls said the camp was a good learning experience.
“I encourage other girls to try to get into the program next year if they can. It’s a great opportunity,” Lucero said.
