With an increased emphasis on STEM in both education and the workplace, two girls from the Grants area recently had the opportunity to attended Tech Trek, New Mexico, a summer STEM camp, sponsored by the American Association of University Women (AAUW). Local participants were Hailey Rose and Alessa Maxey from Los Alamitos Middle School.
Tech Trek New Mexico is a weeklong, residential STEM for rising-eight-grade New Mexico girls who are passionate about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Tech Trek incorporates a variety of hands-on activities including a daily three-hour core class, workshops, field trips, and a Question-and-Answer session with women professionals in STEM careers from around the state. Tech Trek is held on the New Mexico Tech campus in Socorro, New Mexico.
At Tech Trek, girls are immersed in a world that empowers and encourages them to visualize themselves as future scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and computer specialists. In addition to the three-hour core classes in subjects ranging from Mechanical Engineering to the Stellar Life Cycle, the girls participated in workshops on drones, genetics, the engineering design process, game theory, and solar cars. The girls also had the opportunity to visit the National Radio Astronomy Observatory Operations Center, and the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources’ Mineral Museum. Additionally, the girls participated in a geology field trip and a field trip to Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge.
We’d like to thank all of our sponsors, some of which were, ExxonMobil, Sandia National Laboratories, Walgreens, LANL Foundation, Honeywell, and New Mexico Tech University for their contributions which made Tech Trek possible this year for these talented middle school girls. We would also like to thank the teachers from Los Alamitos Middle School, who nominated the girls for the opportunity to apply for Tech Trek NM.
For more information about Tech Trek, please visit https://techtreknm.aauw.net/.