Tech Trek Celebration 2024
The 2003-2024 Tech Trek cohort has successfully completed their Tech Trek experience. The girls fromWilmington Middle School and Dana Middle School attended camp and shared their experiences with theirfamilies and PVP AAUW members at Celebrate Tech Trek this past Sunday. Seven of the 15 campers attend- edand talked about their experiences, their aspirations, and shared funny stories with a narrated slide show.Highlights of the day include stories about hitting a dummy with a baseball bat to learn about blood splatter,making robotic hats, and dissecting a fetal pig. The consensus was that the camp food was delicious! VivianNguyen, a TTAG member who is at USC studying neuroscience, and Denise Devenuto the TTAG Advisor, spoke about the benefits of the Tech Trek alumni program. Following the program the campers, guests and AAUWmembers visited while enjoying Paradise cake and raspberry lemonade.
The success of this program, which is primarily funded from AAUW member donations, was certainly evident from the enthusiasm and appreciation these girls expressed. Thank you to the committee for contributing tothe success of Tech Trek. It was a proud moment for AAUW PVP.
Thanks to the committee who made this day a success: Martha Maimone, Jill Wussler, Kathy Ford, Dale Richards, Joann De Flon, Lynne Jones, Sara Deen, Diane Hembacher, Dana Gorman, Denise DeVenuto, Fran Brown, Leslie Criswell, Shera Dolmatz, Marlin More, Joanie Gale, JeanneWilson and Chair Kaaren Lee.
Tech Trek Update 2024
During the week of June 16th-22nd the first group of girls is attending camp at Whittier College. We are sending 7 girls to Whittier I, 5 girls to Whittier II, and 3 girls to UC San Diego. Ten of the girls are from Wilmington MiddleSchool, 5 are from Dana Middle School. The selection processes this year resulted in every girl who wanted to go, and was able to go, being awarded a spot. The selection process prioritized girls who submitted their documents before the deadline and either attended all of the gatherings or responded promptly toall communication. The girls were aware of these standards from the beginning and support was readily available.
On June 2nd we partnered with the Torrance AAUW TT Branch (thank you Denise) to hold an orientation meeting. The Tech Trek committee was on hand to do the set-up, sign-ins and assist with the activities. The girls participated in an ice breaker and a puzzle game to help get to know and work with students from other schools. We talked with the girls and coached them that as role models of our branch they should make sure that no girlfelt excluded. Most of the girls have already been notified of their core class subject material.
Their reactions were priceless from squealing and jumping up and down, to looking a bit stunned. We walked the girls around and encouraged them to introduce themselves to other girls who are attending the same camp and core specialty. Some of the core specialties are Anatomy, Chemistry, Crime Scene Investigation, Robotics/Coding,and Neurology.
TTAG members Sarah Solares and our very own 2023 camper, Yajaira Ledesma, spoke to the parents as did Sarah’s mother. The content was also repeated in Spanish. These two TTAG girls were tremendously poised and confident, exhibiting the benefits of Tech Trek. We look forward to you meeting the 2024 campers at CelebrateTech Trek on August 18th. Please save the date!
AAUW PVP Tech Trek 2023 – 2024
by Kaaren Lee
“If the question ever was if I liked Tech Trek, the answer will be Tech-Yeah!” ” I also had an amazing dorm group, JC, and dorm mom.”
“I found the Women’s Professional Night very interesting because I got to know how they started their career.”
These are but a few of the enthusiastic comments that we have received from the 22 girls that attended Tech Trek Camp this summer. The girls were, for the most part, quite shy during the orientation. I was delighted to see their confidence shine through after the camp experience. Please join us to meet the girls and more at Celebrate Tech Trek. Thank you to Kathy Ford and the 2022-2023 Committee for ushering through this great cohort of girls. They have started 8th grade and are on their way. Our own Leslie Criswell attended camp as a volunteer, keeping up with the energetic bunch despite having a new knee!
We would like to send at least the same number of girls next year that attended this year (22) and will have to do some fundraising to achieve this goal. An online payment system is in the works, but until then checks can be made out to “AAUW CA SPF” with “Tech Trek- PVP Branch” in the memo space.
Tech Trek 2022 – 2023
by Kathy Ford
Kathy Ford and the Tech Trek committee are pleased to announce we are providing camp experiences to 23 girls this coming summer. The girls are an energetic, bright group of young women who all expressed great enthusiasm and appreciation at being offered this opportunity. All the 21 in-person campers, and the 2 virtual campers completed the necessary documentation and have been assigned acamp experience.
We are very pleased with this outcome, after initially receiving 44 nominations from the teachers at Dana MiddleSchool and Wilmington Middle School. This cohort will use all existing funds, making fund raising essential to continue this valuable project. The committee welcomes any fundraising ideas or sponsorships from the group.Thank you for your support!
Kaaren Lee volunteered to be Branch Coordinator-in-Training. Kaaren became a member last year and has many years of experience as a volunteer with youth organizations. She has many creative ideas and tremendous energy to make things happen. What a plus to have her at PVP! Helen is a big supporter of the goals of Tech Trek and will be part of the Dana MS school group.
Residential Camps Were Back in 2022!
The Palos Verdes Peninsula branch sent girls from Wilmington and Dana Middle Schools to residential Tech Trek camp in 2019 – but residential camps were back for 2022. Not all the campuses were prepared to open for outside groups of young campers this summer, but we were very fortunate to have two weeks of residential camp at UC Santa Barbara and one week at Whittier College. In addition, there will be two weeks of virtual camp that will allow us to offer science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) camp experiences to more girls.
The PVP Tech Trek Committee, headed by Kathy Ford as the Tech Trek Branch Coordinator and Treasurer, is responsible for selecting girls who have been nominated by their math and science teachers to attend Tech Trek and then help them through the registration process. The committee also holds an orientation in the spring for girls attending a residential camp and puts on Celebrate Tech Trek for all the campers, and their families in the fall. It is so rewarding to help young girls learn more about STEM, meet and interact with other girls their age who have similar interests, and have the chance to see a bigger future for themselves. Tech Trek can change lives and the Tech Trek Committee offers a wonderful opportunity to help make that happen through this AAUW mission group of dedicated volunteers.
2021 Tech Trek Report
Last year was an amazing year for Tech Trek. Instead of letting the state-wide Tech Trek program go dark for a second year, a virtual STEM camp was developed to serve 612 girls during three camp weeks. Every process for selecting and registering campers, signing up volunteers for social, build and workshop coaches, logistic coordinators, and administrative support, attracting workshop presenters and inspirational speakers and much more had to be developed based on a 40-camper pilot implemented in 2020. Obviously, this was a huge challenge and, as with any major new program development, especially one with a very heavy technical requirement, it sometimes seemed confusing. But there was so much positive effort, energy, and talent led by Mary Isaac, Virtual Camp Director, that it all worked. As someone who participated, it was extremely satisfying to see the 612 campers and 252 volunteers make it happen. Their excitement and enjoyment of this camp experience made it all very worth-while.
Click HERE to view the showcase videos of some of the 2021 AAUW PVP virtual campers.
Junior and young adult coaches who took on leadership roles in helping the campers learn coding and the engineering process and carry out all the workshop activities were impressive The virtual camps provided a real growth opportunity for our campers and for all the former Tech Trekkers who were coaches, social media coordinators, robotics instructors and technical support.
About Tech Trek
AAUW CA inaugurated Tech Trek, a science, math, and computer camp for 7th grade girls, on the campus of Stanford University in June 1998. Between 1998 and the present, campers have been sponsored by the Palos Verdes Peninsula Branch. Most recently they have been selected from applicants attending Wilmington Middle School and Dana Middle School (San Pedro).
Kathy Ford is the TechTrek Coordinator and the Tech Trek Treasurer for our branch. The energetic Tech Trek Committee oversees fundraising for camp fees, works closely with teacher coordinators at each school, interviews the girls, reads essays, selects the campers, and mentors them as they prepare for the camp adventure.
New committee members are always welcome! Contact Kathy at kjsford@me.com.
Contact Kathy at kjsford@me.com.
If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution to this worthwhile cause, make your check in any amount payable to AAUW-CA-SFP and write Tech Trek PVP in the memo line. Checks should be sent to Kathy Ford at 6429 Parklynn Drive, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275.