CGEST's Ali Roberts Recaps the Fun From This Summer's Girls in Tech Camp
By Ali Roberts
The Girls in Tech STEM camp is a week-long summer program for middle and high school students to explore areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics alongside relevant aspects of Hawaiian culture to learn how to make a positive change in their families, communities, and the world.
The camp held on the island of Oʻahu from June 19 – June 25, welcomed 29 new campers and six alumni campers from across Oʻahu and Hawaii Island (the Big Island). The alumni campers served as peer mentors to the new campers to share their experiences and strategies with leaving home and meeting new people. In addition to being a valuable resource, the peer mentors gained new skills in leadership through facilitating discussions and focus groups with the new cohort.
The campers engaged in activities for the week exploring the realms of computer science, astronomy and physics, marine science, and ecology. They also spent time in their groups building an app intended to address a social issue of their choosing. The themes each day of the camp were:
Monday – Computer Science Day at Aloha Tower
Tuesday – Astronomy Day at the Bishop Museum and Planetarium
Wednesday – Marine Science Day at Waimanalo Makapuu Campus and the Oceanic Institute
Thursday – Ecology Day at Heʻeia Fish Pond
Friday – Systems Mapping at Aloha Tower
An integral and foundational aspect of the camp was the participation in Hawaiian cultural learning with Kaleo Hanohano and her wonderful ʻohana (family). Kaleo is a kumu (teacher) and Hawaiian cultural practitioner with many years of teaching and consulting experience. Kumu Kaleo and her ʻohana guided campers through activities such as ʻOlena (turmeric) fabric dying, leaf printing, mahina (moon) lessons, and making ti leaf leis, all while emphasizing the relevance to the STEM skills being taught in the camp.
The weeklong culturally relevant STEM experience on Saturday morning ended with a final oli (chant) together as a group, certificate distribution, and heartfelt goodbyes between friends. The fully funded grant through the National Science Foundation represents the second iteration of the in-person Girls in Tech 2022 camp in partnership with Hawaii Pacific University.
