Six outstanding female high school students from Sammamish gathered with family and friends at a reception on March 16 at the Lake Washington School District administration building to accept accolades from the Kirkland-Redmond Branch of AAUW.

Altogether, district schools chose 20 young women as their outstanding female students to be honored for their excellence in Science, Technology or Math.

The STEM honorees who live in or attend school in Sammamish included, from Eastlake High School: Guiomar Basualdo, science; Katie Borley, technology; and Alyssa Mell, math; from Tesla STEM High School: Varsha Sree Veeramachaneni, technology; from Redmond High School: Annie Hanson, technology; and from Emerson High School: Katherine McMillan, math.

The young women received a certificate of recognition and a gift to recognize their achievement. Kimberly Bautista, a sophomore at the University of Washington studying physics and computers, spoke to the honorees to encourage them in the flexible pursuit of their goals by being open to opportunities disguised as roadblocks and detours.

AAUW nationally supports equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy and research. Locally, the Kirkland-Redmond Branch organizes the High School STEM Scholars Program; supports Tech Trek, a one-week summer immersion STEM camp for eighth grade girls; provides a Cascadia Community College scholarship for a woman returning to school after an absence; and organizes and works at the annual spring Expanding Your Horizons Career Conference for middle school girls at Bellevue College.

For more information on the Kirkland-Redmond Branch of AAUW, visit kr-wa.aauw.net.