The Chehalis Foundation announced in a news release this week the return of the University of Washington’s STEM camp at W.F. West High School.
The event is to be co-hosted this year by Aberdeen and Chehalis school districts and will be held in the high school’s science, math, technology and engineering (STEM) wing from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day Aug. 7-10.
The day camp costs $25 per student and is open to any students entering grades nine through 12 and scholarships are available for those who need it. Attendees do not need to be students in Chehalis or Aberdeen, according to the release. The University of Washington intends to focus on making engineering and medical science opportunities more accessible for students throughout Southwest Washington.
“The STEM wing is an ideal place for UW Medicine and Engineering to put on a STEM camp. Hosting in Chehalis helps us reach students who do not have easy access to events held on our campuses,” said Randy Hodgins, vice president of external affairs at the UW, in the release. “We are excited again this year to engage with high school students from Southwest Washington. Our teams engage with the local students in presenting hands-on science and engineering material.”
The camp has been held at W.F. West High School for nearly a decade thanks to a partnership between the Chehalis Foundation and the UW.
Jenny Collins, executive director of the foundation, said in the news release the Chehalis Tribe is a “generous contributor” to the program. Students from Aberdeen and elsewhere in Grays Harbor, the Quinault Indian Nation, and the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation have attended the camp in years past, Collins said.
“Thanks to our donors we can make this camp very affordable for families here. The price is $25 per student and we can also give scholarships to students with need so that cost is never a barrier,” Collins said. “People really have to see this camp to believe how engaged the students are with cutting edge science and engineering concepts. This is an experience for high school kids they will not find anywhere else.”
Registration is open for the camp at https://stemchehalis.org.
