AAUW Palo Alto Selection of Campers for 2018 Tech Trek

June 1, 2018

Contact:

aauw.pa.techtrek@gmail.com

AAUW Palo Alto Branch Announce Selection of Campers for the 2018 Grace Hopper Tech Trek Summer Camp at Stanford

AAUW Palo Alto has selected 7 current 7th grade girls from Palo Alto and East Palo Alto to attend the 2018 Grace Hopper Tech Trek Summer Camp to be held at Stanford University July 15-21, 2018. Tech Trek is a week long science and math camp, uniquely designed for girls to see first-hand how exciting careers in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields can be. Five of the campers are sponsored by the AAUW Palo Alto Branch through member donations and our annual authors lunch and one camper is sponsored by the 49ers Academy. The remaining camper is funded by way of the 2017 Palo Alto Kiwanis Angel Award, given to Marie Wolbach, the original founder of Teck Trek.

Campers selected for the 2018 camp are as follows:

· Katherine Lopez, 49ers Academy

· Antilose (Rose) Ma'afu, 49ers Academy – (funded through the 2017 Palo Alto Kiwanis Angel Award)

· Jocelyn Guzman, 49ers Academy – (sponsored by 49ers Academy)

· Maanasa Viswanath, JLS Middle School

· Mia Reyes, Jordan Middle School

· Roshelle Bunuan, Terman Middle School

· Giovanna Cruz, St. Elizabeth Seton School

Some of the 2018 campers recently attended and were honored at a joint meeting of the Palo Alto and Los Altos branches of AAUW: pictured above L-R: M Viswanath, R Bunuan, M Reyes, G Cruz, M Ashley (Palo Alto AAUW)

AAUW is a longtime leader on issues related to women and girls in STEM and is particularly well known for our 2010 research report ‘Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics’. Tech Trek was created in 1998 by Marie Wolbach of the AAUW Palo Alto branch with a Community Action Grant from the AAUW national office. Over the last 18 years in California, Tech Trek has expanded to eight college campuses and served more than 11,000 girls. The program has also been expanded to other parts of the country and this year there will be 21 Tech Trek camps across the country.

The science and technology workforce in this country is aging, while the demand for talent keeps increasing. Tech Trek is a crucial program to prepare and empower the next generation of girls to go into these fields and increase the science and technology talent pool. Women benefit from highly stable, well-paying jobs while the STEM industry gains diverse perspectives from a deeper talent pool and more voices at the table. Opening up more opportunities and supporting girls in STEM is a win-win for the American economy.