A group of Oak Harbor High School girls will get a chance to learn about the currently male-dominated fields of science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM.
As many as 50 high school girls in grades ninth through 12th will attend the Expand Your Horizons Conference at the Bellevue College Campus, where they will get the chance to go to three workshops related to skills and jobs in the STEM fields.
The conference is 7:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, March 27.
“Anytime we can expose students to those opportunities is beneficial,” OHHS career counselor Carla Hurst said.
The conference draws attendees from all over the Bellevue and Seattle area and includes 53 workshops this year, Hurst said, each taught by female professionals in the STEM fields.
Workshops this year include lessons on how to create video games, lifting fingerprints at a crime scene, surgical suturing practiced on chicken skins, robotics and more.
During the half-day conference, students will also get to go to a career and college fair and talk with women about what it’s like to work in certain fields.
“It’s basically trying to inspire young ladies interested in careers underrepresented by females,” Hurst said.
During the six years she’s helped organize the field trip, Hurst said they’ve usually filled up quickly, occasionally establishing a waiting list.
“We know that the amount of females going into these types of fields are low compared to men,” Hurst said.
“I think just getting that representation of opportunities for students to realize that they, too, need to look at these careers as a possible option (is important).”
Hurst said there are also camps and organizations offering STEM insight during the summer and throughout the year, and any students, boy or girl, interested in STEM opportunities are welcome to visit her office at the high school.
“It’s really, I think, very inspiring to the girls to see … not only strong female role models, but also working in fields dominated by men and have been successful,” Hurst said.
“We try and expose young ladies to as many of the STEM-type opportunities as we can, and this happens to be a big one,” she added.
“The girls really enjoy it.
