Tech Trek Camp Gives Girls Opportunity To Experience STEM on College Campus

GALLOWAY – Building robots, crafting underwater flashlights, coding and creating Android apps, these activities may not bring back memories of summer camp for many, but for the 30 Atlantic and Cape May county girls who attended the American Association of University Women Tech Trek 2015 camp at Stockton University, that was just the beginning of their jam-packed camp schedule.
Michelle Douglass, director of the Tech Trek program, is passionate about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
More specifically, she’s devoted to promoting the interest and participation of girls in those fields. In order to make the camp a reality, Douglass, a Somers Point-based attorney, initially received a $10,000 grant and then proceeded to raise an additional $20,000. That funding enabled the AAUW Atlantic and Cape May chapters to keep the camp affordable, charging only a $50 attendance fee.
From July 19-25, the girls, all rising eighth-graders, lived on Stockton’s campus. They learned how to conduct research in Stockton’s animal and plant labs, and visited the marine lab where they explored sea life at the beach with the use of a seine net.
They also took a field trip to the Federal Aviation Administration Technical Center and the Aviation Simulation Center at Atlantic Cape Community College where they visited the new STEM Building and participated in DNA testing.
When asked which activity was her favorite, 13-year-old Zoe Roche said, “I really liked the GeoDome because I’m interested in astronomy, but I also liked going fishing. That was really fun. It was an awesome experience, and I’d recommend it to other girls in a heartbeat.” Roche hopes to become an astronomer for NASA.
As with the other attendees, Roche was carefully selected after receiving a school nomination, writing a 400-500 word essay, and completing an interview.
Roche’s mother Gina Roche says that she cried tears of joy when she received the news that her daughter had been selected. “It’s overwhelming just thinking about how much information she gathered and the connection that she made to other girls who are likeminded. She’s only 13, but she talks about astronomy, and she’s said to me many times that she longs to talk to people with similar interests. She finally got to experience that for a whole week,” Roche said. 
“I have not been able to thank the women at AAUW enough for their time and passion for science. Zoe had the chance to live at a dorm. It was a true college experience for her. We talked for only 10 minutes a day, and she had nothing but great things to say about the teachers and the other girls,” she shared.
Roche says that her daughter still keeps in touch with all of the girls through text messaging, and they may remain lifelong friends.
 “When she got home, she told me that she felt like she was in a roomful of people just like her. I hope that this is something that Stockton will offer again next year,” she stated.
Dr. Claudine Keenan, dean at Stockton University and coordinator of the program, plans to do just that. Both she and Douglass hope to expand the camp next year, potentially increasing its attendance to 60 campers from all over New Jersey.
At the end of the week, the girls had the opportunity to come face to face with their role models – 18 successful female professionals who’ve turned their love of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics into their careers.
The girls and their guests of honor enjoyed a catered dinner and a round-table discussion, along with a panel discussion of questions and answers. The female professionals ranged from computer programmers, chemists, ecologists, and engineers.
Beth Stuehler Krawczuk of East Hanover was one of these women. Stuehler Krawczuk is a senior web programmer with LabCorp and co-president and STEM education chair of the AAUW Madison, N.J. branch.
She believes that keeping young girls excited and motivated about future STEM career possibilities will aid in bridging the gender gap in these fields.
 “It felt great sharing my career experiences with the girls and seeing them translate that into possibilities for themselves. Seeing them get so excited was awesome. It could be heard all throughout the room – ‘I want to do that! I want to do that!’ By the end of the evening, the energy was so high that I felt reinvigorated in my own career,” she said.
After the week came to a close, the girls were asked to rate their camp experience on a scale from one to 10, and the answer was unanimous – Tech Trek Camp exceeded their expectations beyond measure.
They rated it a 20.