For over a decade, Joan Burkepile has participated in the STEM conference for middle school girls called “Expanding Your Horizons,” at CU Boulder. These one-day hands-on workshops are led by women professionals and are designed to be fun and exploratory.
Joan Burkepile (HAO) leading her hands-on workshop “Beyond the Rainbow: What Light Teaches us About our Sun, the Stars and the Universe”
Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) is a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) conference for middle school girls held at the University of Colorado (CU) at Boulder. EYH is organized by the Boulder Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and supported by HAO/NCAR and Seagate. The mission of EYH is to introduce girls in grades 6 through 8 to career opportunities in mathematics, science, engineering, computer science, and technology. During the 1–day conference, each middle school girl attends 3 different 50-min hands-on workshops given by women with STEM careers. HAO support of EYH provides young women with the opportunity to meet and interact with positive STEM women role models, involves young women with limited opportunities for success in positive STEM experiences, increases interest in science by providing exciting and fun hands-on learning experiences, and fosters awareness of science career opportunities.
Astrid Maute was one of the co-organizers of the girls STEM conference. This year, 2017, over 280 middle school girls from the whole Front Range area attended EYH. The yearly workshop is located at the CU Engineering Center.