TUSD partners with local research organization to provide female students with STEM opportunities.

On Monday, July 24 – Friday, July 28, Several Tucson Unified middle school girls will be attending and experiencing the ACES 2023 Camp. “Applied Career Exploration” in STEM (ACES) Camp for Girls is a week-long summer camp for middle school girls held every July.
This camp will be the second camp hosted for Tucson Unified School District.

The camp is designed to explore a wide variety of careers, provide a path to potential success, and lay a foundation for STEM identity in higher education and beyond. ACES facilitates teamwork, use of technology, and hands-on learning, while giving students a feel for the college experience at a critical time in their lives.

Karen Taravati- TUSD Magnet Programs Director, mentions “The vision and the hope are to engage our students in science and technology to excite young, middle grade female students in a relevant, meaningful way, so they enter STEM fields/careers later in life. Community partnerships that allow for this kind of work is something I think we can all support.”

ACES Camp learning week schedule includes topics, projects, and guest speakers, such as but not limited to, Mars Colony, Automotive, Welding, Robotics, Computer Lab, Women in Space Activities, Team Building, Space Hab Activity, UA Flandrau Exhibits/Film, Graphite/Sugar Cubes, UA CATalyst Studios, Sabrina Thompson-Space Suit, FBI Speakers/Activity, Speaker Panel with Karla Peredes Aguilar, and others.

This proactive partnership with Tucson Unified School District, was thanks to the vision of SARSEF’s, Manager of School Relationships and Impact, Ms. Amber Folkman. SARSEF focuses on engaging student populations underrepresented in the fields of STEM. Which prioritize creating opportunities for students in schools designated as Title 1 institutions (schools with higher percentages of low-income families), for more information, visit SARSEF.org