23 ambitious girls and boys are off to STEM summer camps thanks to RizePoint STEM Scholarships. We celebrated the occasion with a scholarship banquet – complete with balloons, cupcakes, and awards. The hour-long banquet was an opportunity for the students to shine in front of their families and the entire RizePoint team. 11 year-olds to 15 year-olds were able to mingle with RizePoint’s engineers, and meet CEO Frank Maylett when he handed out the awards.
STEM camp topics range from robotics and genetics to marine science and space exploration. Several students said they hope to be computer scientists one day. Others were unsure about their career plans (fair enough!) but said they love math. We’re excited to check in with this talented bunch after their STEM adventures.
ABOUT THE AWARD
Students, ranging from 5th to 10th grade, applied with a personal explanation of their own ambitions to learn at STEM camp. They also had to submit a letter from a friend as well as a teacher’s recommendation. The applications were reviewed by a committee of RizePoint executives and Canyon School District officials. The committee evaluated several aspects including the students’ STEM interests and how many camps they had been to before. In many cases, this was going to be their first summer camp experience.
STEM IN UTAH
STEM is a hot topic. Everyone from Mark Zuckerberg to President Obama is talking about the need for youth education in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Better yet, Utah is a hotspot for STEM educational programs, particularly those focused on providing access to females. The Women’s Tech Council has their SheTech Explorer day and recently announced that STEM education is a priority for 2016. They’re not the only ones. The Utah STEM Action Center is working on a STEM bus for traveling education and recently named 19 schools as Designated STEM Programs. Several other organizations expressed their interest and support of STEM youth programs.
RizePoint is proud to support STEM initiatives for Utah kids. Youth technology education is one of our three focus areas for community engagement – alongside global consciousness and sustainable food systems. This is the first year of our annual scholarship program and one part of a growing partnership between the Canyons School District Foundation and RizePoint.