Shawna Sodersten

Now in its seventh year, “Excite Camp” continues its focus on the importance of keeping middle school girls engaged in math and science. The objective the program is to rekindle and bolster the interest and build self-efficacy of Native Hawaiian girls in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) before they enter high school. Research indicates that girls’ interest in math and science begins to wane significantly at the middle school juncture. Girls start to self-select out of STEM career and education paths under the premise that these subjects are boring, maledominated, and not relevant to their lives. In a two-prong effort to help increase awareness, enthusiasm, and self-confidence in math and science, Excite Camp exposes Native Hawaiian girls to real-world science applications with connections to their native culture and history. Program development for Excite Camp is provided by the Women in Technology Project (WIT) of the Maui Economic Development Board, Inc. (Maui, Haw...