July 25, 2014
Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com
Local girls thrive at Tech Trek PAMELA WIESENDANGER Clayton Pioneer
The college experience came early for three Diablo View Middle School students this summer. Alex Brown, Hannah Macaulay and Sydney Skow attended the one week Tech Trek math and science camp at Sonoma State University in June. The camp is designed for young women entering eighth grade to encourage their interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. As a result, going forward with her studies and career options, Hannah says, “I will keep my mind open to new possibilities.” Each camper was assigned to one of four core subjects: physics, math, wildlife or genetics. They attended classes in their core subject as well as labs and field trips in the other categories. One field trip was to the Luther Burbank Home and Gardens where the girls discussed plant genetics. Hands-on activities such as dissecting a cow’s eye, examining bones and building a robot showed that math and science are fun as well as educational. The teachers and staff were all women. Women with careers in math and science were guest speakers. Alex interviewed one speaker, a physical therapist, at dinner and then introduced her to the group. Alex was surprised to learn that the therapist does a lot of traveling, including to Europe. That piqued Alex’s interested in studying abroad.
ALEX BROWN, HANNAH MACAULAY AND SYDNEY SKOW, incoming eighth grade class president at DVMS, arrive at Sonoma State University for a week of math and science fun at this year’s Tech Trek camp. Sonoma is one of eight locations in California hosting the camp.
All three girls favor the sciences and aim to attend college. Alex plans to be a labor and delivery nurse. “I know science is a big part of that,” she says. Tech Trek helped her see that even math has its place in giving birth. Sydney would like to study genetics. She admits that while she likes school and learning, she sometimes forgets the material as soon as the test is over. Tech Trek motivated her to connect learning with problem res-
olution. “I’m always going to really try to stay on topic and see if I can take it further,” she said. Hannah did not pinpoint a field of study, but by experiencing so many possibilities for applying math and science at camp, she says, “Once I’ve made up my mind, I can still do other stuff.” The girls stayed in the dorms and ate their meals as a group, getting a taste of college in their future. All three most enjoyed meeting new people
and are already keeping in touch through texts and social media. Hannah says even though her new friends have the same interests, their thoughts vary. “It was cool to see a different perspective.” Tech Trek was developed in 1998 by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) to help young girls continue their interests in the STEM fields, which are still under-represented by women. The Clayton AAUW and Clayton Business and Community Association co-sponsor the Clayton students. Clayton’s AAUW has an annual spring spaghetti feed to raise their portion of the money. Five students are nominated by Cynthia Brewington, a DVMS science teacher. The students submit an essay on a selected topic, the local AAUW interviews them and chooses three to attend the camp. Brewington says in addition to being on top of their academic game, the nominees are chosen based on “leadership, ability in the classroom and a desire to help their peers succeed.”
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