AAUW celebrates big year for girls’ STEM camp

On Sept. 17, the Issaquah branch of the American Association of University Women recognized nine area middle school girls it had sponsored for a week of career exploration in science and math fields.

By Daniel Nash • September 24, 2015 3:37 pm
Issaquah Middle School student Audrey Davis discusses her favorite part of the Tech Trek STEM camp at Pacific Lutheran University. She is flanked by fellow campers Sylvie Cao (left) of Maywood Middle School and Sophie Serumgard (right) of Issaquah Middle School.
Issaquah Middle School student Audrey Davis discusses her favorite part of the Tech Trek STEM camp at Pacific Lutheran University. She is flanked by fellow campers Sylvie Cao (left) of Maywood Middle School and Sophie Serumgard (right) of Issaquah Middle School.

On Sept. 17, the Issaquah branch of the American Association of University Women recognized nine area middle school girls it had sponsored for a week of career exploration in science and math fields.

This summer marked the third year AAUW Issaquah had paid for girls to attend Tech Trek WA at Pacific Lutheran University — and it marked the most successful year by far, according to AAUW Issaquah officers. The women’s political organization received nearly two-dozen applications from seventh-grade students who had come recommended by their math and science teachers, ultimately selecting nine after interviewing the applicants. This after the first and second years saw two and three candidates, respectively, AAUW Issaquah student outreach officer Kat Hughes said.

Statewide, Tech Trek attendance has ballooned from 50 campers in 2013, to 89 in 2014, to 146 across two camps in 2015, according to figures from AAUW of Washington State.

Nine Issaquah girls were as many as donations from individuals and corporate sponsors could finance, member Billie Coopwood said.

“If I could have taken out my checkbook and paid for every girl who applied, I would have,” Coopwood said.

Tech Trek campers spent the week of July 12-18 immersed in dozens of activities like building robots, making soap and programming computers — each one designed to encourage the girls to use the same problem-solving skills required of scientists, engineers, mathematicians and technologists.

Speaking at a meeting of AAUW Issaquah members, Sophie Serumgard of Issaquah Middle School said she enjoyed dissecting a squid in camp and has since become more interested in marine biology. The class ate the squid after the dissection, she said.

“We cooked it first,” Hughes added quickly, to laughs. “We weren’t eating sushi.”

Maywood Middle School student Sylvie Cao was drawn to medical activities at Tech Trek, she said. Activities included taking blood pressure and injecting an orange.

Each of the six girls who spoke had a different favorite camp activity. But they were unanimous in their enthusiasm for the experience of spending a week on a college campus.

“Since coming back, she’s become more serious about college,” Amanda Davis said about her daughter Audrey. “I mean, she was serious before. But now it’s real to her.”