Brick Student Chosen For Competitive STEM Camp

BRICK, NJ — A Brick Township student has been chosen to attend a highly selective technology camp for girls, the Brick Township School District announced.

CeJaelyn Perednia, an eighth-grader at Lake Riviera Middle School, was chosen for "Tech Trek," sponsored by the American Association of University Women.

CeJaelyn was first recommended by a team of STEM teachers at Lake Riviera Middle School to represent the Lakers in the selection process. She completed an extensive application package that included an original essay. She chose to write about stem cell research. Her application was accepted, allowing her to move on to the interview portion of the process. Her interview was successful, earning her a spot at the camp!

At Tech Trek, girls are immersed in a world that empowers and encourages them to think about themselves as future scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and computer specialists. This one-week, residential, hands-on STEM camp for rising eighth-grade girls is held in July at Richard Stockton University. The camp is sponsored by AAUW.

AAUW has a long history of opening doors for women and girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). In addition, Tech Trek has been shown to significantly increase girls’ self-confidence and their interest in the STEM fields.

Cejaelyn and her fellow campers will take part in activities programming apps for tablets and smart phones, extracting their own DNA, formulating lip gloss in a chemistry lab, visiting the FAA Technical Center and much more!

This experience will allow her to collaborate with like-minded peers and bolster her interest in pursuing a STEM career.

Through hands-on problem solving and encounters with women role models in science, technology, engineering, and math, AAUW Tech Trek helps girls see their futures while having nonstop fun. This one-week summer camp is backed by AAUW’s research and designed to make STEM fields exciting and accessible to girls in middle school — the age when girls’ participation in these fields statistically drops. For many girls, the weeklong camp sparks their curiosity and places them on a path toward success.

Photo provided by Brick Township Schools