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UC Davis Center for Integrated Computing and STEM Education (C-STEM) --- Research and Outreach
Home > C-STEM GIRL and GIRL+ Camps > GIRL Camp

GIRL Camp

C-STEM GIRL (Girls in Robotics Leadership) Camps for Next Generation of Female Leaders    

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All GIRL Camps  in different regions are funded by various sponsors and attendance is FREE for camp participants. Camp participants are eligible for the Girl’s Leadership Award.		 The 1-week C-STEM GIRL Camps are focused on

  1. Motivating primarily girls in middle school through peer mentoring by college students to learn leadership and STEM concepts through a fun and exciting robotics-based curriculum.
  2. Inspire next generation of female professionals and leaders in STEM fields. Provide a safe environment for girls to take risk, nurture their talent and instill in them confidence to pursue a STEM major in college.
  3. Empowering campers to serve as leaders and inspire other young girls to gain interest in science and technology through creating robotics clubs on their respective school campuses, outreaching to elementary schools, and participating in RoboPlay Competition.

Curriculum

The GIRL curriculum is focused on:

  • Robotics
  • Mathematics with Coding and Robotics
  • Principles of Engineering
  • Programming in RoboBlockly and Ch/C/C++
  • Film Production
  • Women in IT

At the end of the camp, student teams create a multimedia presentation of their creation, including a video for RoboPlay Video Competition, and present it to parents and peers. The teacher mentor, coaches, and assistant coaches will select up to two best videos from the presentations for possible submission to participate in  the next year’s RoboPlay Video Competition.

A camper working on her group’s robot video project

In addition, students learn important life skills including:

  • Teamwork skills
  • communication and presentation skills
  • Leadership skills
  • Building confidence
  • Breaking gender stereotypes

Camp Participants

Each camp will have 20 middle school students entering 7th or 8th grade in the coming Fall, who

  • have a strong academic record
  • exhibit strong leadership skills
  • have had exposure to computing or robotics or have a strong interest
  • can pick up new material quickly

Camp Assistant Coaches

Each camp will have two high school students (leaving the 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade) to serve as Assistant Coach. The Assistant Coach positions are not paid.

Camp  Coaches

Each camp has two Coaches. Each Coach will be compensated with $500 for the week. They should:

  • be in college
  • have experience with robotics, programming, and video editing
  • work well with young girls
  • be willing to attend a 1-day on-line training session on a Saturday in late spring or early summer.

Camp Mentors

Each camp has a  teacher or staff to serve as a mentor and coordinator. Mentor will be paid at the district standard rate for  the week.

Equipment

  • Each camp will use a set of  hardware Linkbot (16 Linkbot Classroom Bundle and 4 RoboPlay Pack, or 4 RoboPlay Complete Kit), as well as virtual  Linkbot in RoboSim and RoboBlockly. All C-STEM schools and districts shall already have these robotics equipment.
  • Each camp will have computers at a 1:1 ratio for campers
  • Each computer will have a C/C++ Interpreter Ch Profession Edition for Windows or Mac.

Interested in hosting a GIRL Camp  in your area?

If you are interested in hosting a GIRL Camp, please check out C-STEM GIRL Camp Affiliate Program and email us at girlcamp@c-stem.ucdavis.edu.

Funding Oppportunities

  • The Greater Cincinnati STEM Collaborative (GCSC) has included C-STEM GIRL Camp as one of their Summer of STEM 2018 program to expand a GIRL Camp hosted by Northwest Local School District in 2017.  You can apply here for the grants to host GIRL Camps in greater Cincinnati area by February 5, 2018.

GIRL Camp success stories

Solano County Virtual GIRL Camp — 2020 Highlights

Solano GIRL Camp

GIRL (Programming) Power

Mya Wright, GIRL Camper, is a Plenary Speaker at 7th C-STEM Conference

Testimonials from previous camp attendees

  • -“Before this program, I didn’t know anything about robotics. Now, I feel confident about programming. I would like to learn more.”
  • “I really enjoyed the camp and would like to be an assistant coach in a few years so I can help other girls who want to establish a future in robotics too.”
  • “I want to go to our school and teach others now what I have learned at this amazing camp.”
  • “It was so much fun and I learned a lot. Coming in, I didn’t know anything, now I know so much about coding”
  • -“I probably would have never known how to program computer[s] without this program and now I’m more confident about programming computers.”
  • -“I feel that I am a bit more computer smart.”
  • -“The C-STEM robotics camp increased my confidence.”
  • -“If I hadn’t have taken this program I would never be interested in computer science.”
  • -“I wanted to be a math teacher but after this program I want to be a computer scientist.”
  • -“Before this program, I wanted to be in the field of genetics, now, I want to get into technology.”
  • -“I thought I wanted to be an engineer that builds bridges and buildings, now I am interested in computer science.”
  • -“…wanted to be something else when I grew up, but now I want to work with programming.”
  • -“After this camp I realized that robotics is a lot easier than I thought, so I think i’ll try to join the robotics club at my school this year.”
  • –“I like the filming project because i really enjoy working with other campers and making my thoughts come to life.”
  • -“This camp has made coding and robotics a lot more fun.”
  • –“Before GIRL Camp I didn’t like coding at all and now I actually really enjoy coding.”
  • -“All the coaches and assistant coaches were extremely helpful. If I had trouble doing something, the coach or assistant coach was ready to help whenever. They were supportive and overall helpful! I definitely wouldn’t have learned as much without them!”
  • -“This was a great experience for me. I really enjoyed myself more than I thought I would. This encouraged me to some day become an engineer.”

Testimonials from parents

  • -“On our way to camp yesterday morning, [my daughter] told me from the back seat straight, ‘Mommy, I want to study science’. My eyes started to tear a bit as she was never so sure about herself in STEM. The fact that she could say that is a great milestone for her self-awareness and confidence building in the subject.”
  • -“I wish [the camp] was longer. It was a great experience.”
  • -“[My daughter] enjoyed meeting new girls and working with them in a safe environment.”

For More information on GIRL Camp, Click on the link below to download a submitted conference paper about the C-STEM GIRL camp:

C-STEM GIRL Camp

GIRL Camps in the News

6/16/2020, Vacaville district, county schools office, UC Davis team for virtual GIRL Camp

6/6/2020, Coronavirus: SCOE holding Robotics Camp Virtually this week

6/7/2020, Virtual Girls Robotics Camp Starts Monday in Solano

4/29/2019, UC Davis girls’ Robotics Leadership Camps add high schoolers

8/3/2018 GIRL+ Camp Introduces High School Girls to Programming and Robotics

6/22/2018., Girls tour Yuba College, learn about STEM education and career fields

2/22/2018, Coaching Girls in Coding, Confidence

7/28/2017, UC Davis Robotics Camp Grows, Expands Curriculum

8/7/2017, UC Davis hosts C-STEM GIRL Camp for middle school girls

9/6/2017, American Canyon teens coach female peers at summer robotics camp

Fundraising

To sustain and expand the GIRL Camp program, the Center seeks endowment funding and support from federal and state funding agencies, foundations, corporations, and individuals. If you are interested in making a contribution, seeking joint funding opportunities, or having any ideas for raising funds for GIRL, please contact us.

Program Partners: