Girls Get It! camp to expose girls to STEM disciplines

Thirty-two middle school girls from the Syracuse City School District (SCSD) have the opportunity this week to engage in exciting engineering and technology projects, learn from leaders in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines, and just have fun at the first Girls Get It! STEM camp at Syracuse University.

The overnight camp, sponsored by the SCSD in collaboration with SU and JPMorgan Chase & Co., began Sunday and will conclude on Saturday, July 17.

“The Syracuse City School District is supporting this week-long STEM residential program to enhance these students’ ability to increase performance in secondary school science through project-based and collaborative learning,” says David P. Morgan, director of the Partnership for Better Education (PBE).  PBE works closely with the SCSD and local colleges and universities to help students graduate and successfully pursue higher education.

In 2007, SU and JPMorgan Chase formed a unique collaboration to transform the way technologists are trained in the classroom and on the job.  “An important objective of the JPMorgan Chase-Syracuse University collaboration is to leverage our resources and programs to benefit the surrounding community,” says Tommie Williams, JPMorgan Chase vice president and collaboration program manager. “To this end, we have planned activities focused on stimulating the interest of middle school girls in pursuing careers in the STEM fields.”

Participating students are from the SCSD and will be entering eighth or ninth grade in the fall.  Many of the students also participate in the Hillside Work Scholarship Program and the Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP). Teachers, resident assistants and graduate assistants will work with the students throughout the week; industry and student volunteers will help with the projects and other camp activities.

Students will work collaboratively on six projects during the week, such as building an earthquake-proof structure, designing a website and discovering the engineering behind lipgloss. Projects will be introduced to students in the context of the real world, and students will be encouraged to use critical thinking skills to solve the problems that arise. Students will journal about their experience throughout the week.

The week will conclude with an open house on Saturday, July 17, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in which the students will showcase their projects. The open house is by invitation only.

About the Collaboration 
In June 2007, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Syracuse University established a unique corporate-university collaboration and joint venture. The purpose of the collaboration is to develop education and work experience innovations in the area of financial services information technology, leveraging each other’s knowledge and expertise in the building of a best in class curriculum for entry-level technologists and to collaborate on projects of joint interest that provide value to both organizations and to society.

About JPMorgan Chase & Co. 
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $2.2 trillion, operations in more than 60 countries and more than 180,000 employees. JPMorgan Chase is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers, small business and commercial banking, financial transaction processing, asset management and private equity. The firm serves millions of consumers in the United States and many of the world’s most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients under its JPMorgan Chase brands.