The April 11 meeting of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) was held at Washington Middle School (WMS) in the classroom of science teacher Beth Gerber.
The invited speakers for the evening were the girls who attended the Be WISE camp in 2018, Yukio Nagakura and Meadow Cooper, both from WMS. Meadow Cooper returned for a second year.
Be WISE camp is a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) camp held at Denison University for 140 girls entering the seventh and eighth grades for the upcoming year. Every summer, AAUW along with Miami Trace Middle School (MTMS) and WMS sponsor girls to attend the camp.
The 2018 campers shared their experiences, particularly with the sixth grade students who will be attending this summer. They are Khloe Taylor and Sara Smith, from MTMS, and Callee Moore and Desaray Williams from WMS. Parents of the campers were also in attendance. Teacher Beth Gerber (WMS) and principal Jason Binegar (MTMS) coordinated the support through their respective schools. The membership of AAUW thanked the parents and teachers for their encouragement of the girls’ interest in STEM learning.
Be WISE camp began in the summer of 1990, and since then over 3,000 girls have completed the camp program. The residential camp features a separate curriculum for each grade to provide real-life, hands-on experiences in STEM with problem solving and thinking skills as the primary focus. Maximum interaction and instruction is encouraged with a ratio of two teachers per 12 to 16 girls. The experience includes living and eating in a college dorm, learning in modern science labs and using campus recreational areas for swimming, yard games, etc.
If you want more information about the camps or AAUW, please contact bewisecamp.org or AAUWOH.org.
