‘Be WISE’ campers speak at April AAUW meeting

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The April 14 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 2015, Isabella Vanover and Mya Mendenhall from Miami Trace Middle School (MTMS), and Twila Meehan from WMS.

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 MTMS and WMS, sponsors girls to attend the camp.

The girls shared their experiences particularly with those who will be attending this summer. They are Lahni Stachler and Bridget Perkins, both seventh graders at MTMS, and Caroline Frederick and Emily Coonrod, both sixth graders at WMS. Also in attendance were their parents, as well as their science teachers Anna Black (WMS) and Paige Wright (MTMS), who were involved in the selection process.

Teachers Beth Gerber (WMS) and Rhonda Pursell (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.

From left to right are the Be WISE campers, Paige Wright, Bridget Perkins, Lahni Stachler, Isabella Vanover, Mya Mendenhall, Emily Coonrod, Caroline Frederick and Anna Black.
http://www.recordherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2016/04/web1_BeWise.jpgFrom left to right are the Be WISE campers, Paige Wright, Bridget Perkins, Lahni Stachler, Isabella Vanover, Mya Mendenhall, Emily Coonrod, Caroline Frederick and Anna Black.

The Record-Herald

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