Skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are vital to young people as the world continues its progression towards being overrun by computers.
Okay maybe the last part of that sentence isn’t serious, but the first part remains. Those skills are vital to our youth and making sure that young students get to learn about computer science and technology is of the utmost importance.
In the tech field, women and girls are underrepresented. In the past, STEM was primarily targeted towards males and has hindered the progress of women in tech. So much so that the President even spoke on it:
“One of the things that I really strongly believe in is that we need to have more girls interested in math, science, and engineering. We’ve got half the population that is way underrepresented in those fields and that means that we’ve got a whole bunch of talent…not being encouraged the way they need to.”
Those are some strong words from President Obama and that speech was over two years ago. Nationally, some progress has been made, but locally programs have started to pop up to get girls involved outside of the classroom.
Champaign Park District has created the Girls Explore STEM summer camp. The camp gives girls an opportunity to, well, explore these fields and learn about technology in a fun and innovative way. Camps are going on now, but there are still a few weeks left to sign up.
This is a wonderful way for kids, girls specifically, to learn skills that will help them down the road. Kudos to CPD for being on the ball and encouraging our youth in this way.