[Source: Business Journal of Phoenix] — The University of Arizona in Tucson will be among hosts of SciTech 2020 math/science camps for Hispanic students this summer. The camps — open to incoming high school sophomores — are the first project of the Hispanic Alliance for STEM Opportunities, a partnership formed earlier this year by the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Corp. and IBM to open up educational opportunities for young Hispanics interested in the subjects of science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM. The camps also will be held at the University of Colorado at Boulder and California State University Los Angeles. The Arizona session starts June 20.
Each four-day camp will immerse 40 students from the surrounding area in the subjects with lab experiments, math contests, tours of nearby IBM facilities, and other activities. The alliance will follow each camper’s progress through school and beyond evaluating the camp experience, inviting camp alumni to mentor new campers and tracking the number of campers who graduate from high school, apply to college, and choose to major in one of the focus subjects. “We want to determine if what we have theorized is actually true — that reaching out early to young people who truly enjoy math and science classes will motivate them to pursue an education and career in a STEM-related field,” said Diana Gomez, president of the board of SHPE. “Our larger goal is to help diversify the STEM work force with Hispanic talent and enhance the U.S. economy overall over the next several decades.” For more: 817-272-1116 or rschwan@shpe.org.