CompuGirls Hawaiʻi - Cybersecurity, Cultural Knowledge, and STEM
By Ali Roberts
On June 4, 2023, 30 students from Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi Island, and Maui will arrive at Hawaiʻi Pacific University’s downtown campus in Honolulu to kick off the week-long residential CompuGirls Hawaiʻi STEM and cybersecurity camp!
Guiding them through the fun-filled week of STEM, cybersecurity, and Hawaiian cultural lessons will be six amazing mentor teachers, seven staff and faculty from ASU and HPU, and Hawaiʻian cultural teacher Kaleo Hanohano and her ʻohana. Kaleo is a kumu (teacher) and Hawaiian cultural practitioner with many years of experience. Six of the students will serve as peer mentors. These are students who have attended similar programming in the past, namely the Girls in Tech camp. They will serve as peer-level role models and mentors alongside their mentor teachers, while also developing their mentorship skills.
The CompuGirls Hawaiʻi Camp is a huge collaborative effort between ASU’s CGEST and HPU, combining Hawaiian cultural learning, the CompuGirls cybersecurity curriculum, and HPU faculty expertise in marine science, computer science, astronomy, and ecology.
The opportunity for campers to attend at no cost is possible because of a grant awarded to Arizona State University (ASU) and Hawaiʻi Pacific University (HPU) from The Defense Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education Consortium (DSEC) AWD00034790. The research goals of the project are to enhance STEM career awareness in IT and cybersecurity as well as college readiness for girls of color to build capacity in the STEM workforce. The research project will prepare young girls of color to develop not just a stronger identity as emerging scientists but an identity that is intersectional and does not separate community, academic, professional, and science identities into separate categories.
We are all greatly looking forward to gathering together for what will be an enriching and exciting camp!
