STEM camp for girls gains quilt raffle funds

Tech Trek 2016 got its start on the Palouse this fall, from an unexpected source.

Bev Pearce, quilter and librarian at the Palouse branch of the Whitman County Library, had created a Halloween-themed quilt she wanted to contribute to a worthy cause. When she came upon a clipping of an Aug. 20, 2015, Gazette article about local girls who attended Tech Trek Camp, she found her cause. Thanks to the cooperation of McLeod's Palouse Market, which displayed the quilt and collected the raffle money, the local community was able to learn about the camp for girls and buy tickets for the raffle.

Tech Trek Camp, an initiative of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), has been shown to significantly increase girls’ self-confidence and their interest in STEM (Science, Techology, Engineering and Math) fields.

Last July, campers in Washington state took part in activities like building and launching model hot air balloons, building and programming model robots, fingerprinting and blood patterns, the chemistry of soap making and marine biology, including dissecting squid.

They also learned some computer coding, how to make a vacuum robot, extract DNA, make ice cream using dry ice, simulate meiosis with genetic trait models, how sonar affects us, optics, exercise physiology and medical skills such as taking blood pressure and giving injections (to an orange).

A total of seven girls from Garfield, Palouse, Oakesdale, LaCrosse and Clarkston went to the camp in Cheney last summer, all expenses paid.

For 2016, local middle school science, math and technology teachers will nominate prospective campers after Christmas break, for the next Tech Trek Camp at EWU July 31-Aug. 6.

Nominees will then apply and be interviewed by the local Palouse-Garfield AAUW Branch Tech Trek Committee, coordinated by Yvonne Berliner of Garfield. The branch is now busy raising funds to send as many qualified girls as possible next year.

“We can make a difference by getting girls early on, doing fun stuff that involves math and science,” said Berliner, a WSU instructor in Latin American and World History.

She noted the aim is to "show that math and science is not for nerds and boys.”