Tech Trek


Teck Trek Update 2024
by Kaaren Lee

Tech Trek is moving forward with our 2024 camper selection. We have 17 girls nominated at each of the 2 schools, for a total of 34. We will likely send an estimated 18 girls to camp, but this may change. As I am new to this position, I am doing many of the tasks myself so that I can learn the process. The committee will soon be involved in reading essays, reviewing applications, and conducting interviews. We are aiming to have our campers selected by the end of March and will be able to share our efforts in the next Coastlines edition

Some of our goals for the year are as follows:

  • Encourage more independence from the girls themselves. As is typical for their age, there was a poor response rate to emails and texts last year, requiring significant and repeated attempts to get them to respond. We intend to emphasize that turning things in on time is a great way to show your interest and enthusiasm, along with providing support for this
  • We are going to create a “continuity binder” so that the committee has a recipe for executing Tech Trek for PVP, including job descriptions, expense records, talking points, supplies, and Wewould benefit from clarifying and detailing committee responsibilities so that the workload is spread out a bit more, making sustainability of Tech Trek PVP more likely.
  • We are focusing on quality not quantity, doing what we do well, without a heavy fundraising We do not raise funds in a similar manner to other branches, though we do quite well with the funds from donations and programs such as Readers Theatre. We will likely send less campersthis year but anticipate it will be a fantastic experience for those that attend.

As always, we happily accept donations or even leads for sources of funding for this worthy project.

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.