Open Campus works with elementary, middle, and high school students to promote college and career access. One of the ways we accomplish this is by offering a variety of summer STEM camps to engage students, prepare them for their future, and get them excited about science, technology, engineering, and math!
Tech Trek is a camp for 8th grade girls, with the main focus of preventing girls from losing confidence in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Tech Trek is a national program of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and is held in both Tillamook and Central Oregon.
The Tillamook camp was created in 2014 and has continued as a partnership between OSU Open Campus Tillamook County, AAUW Tillamook, Tillamook Bay Community College, Tillamook School District #9, and Tillamook Estuaries Partnership. Students must be nominated by one of their STEM teachers to be part of the camp. The Central Oregon camp was created in 2018, and is continuing to grow! Teachers play a valuable role for students and are best at recognizing which girls will benefit most from this type of program. Having them be part of the selection process has been a primary reason for Tech Trek’s success.
Open Campus provides local access to education, resources, and support through community-based partnerships and culturally-relevant programming to help meet the needs of the Oregon communities we serve.