Part of the solution is for business and industry to collaborate with educators to provide opportunities for kids to see the relevance of math and science in careers and to help get them excited about math and science. One way this can happen is through support of special programs and camps.

Take Heather*, for example, currently in fifth grade. This spring saw the premiere of the SMART Career Choices for Girls program at Northampton Community College 's Main and Monroe campuses. Over 200 girls in grades 5-8 attended workshops that were geared to spark an interest in science, math and technology. Heather was one of them. She not only attended the program at the main campus (a considerable distance from her home), but also attended the one at the Monroe campus as well. Did this program make a difference? More on that in a moment…

In addition to faculty and staff volunteers from Northampton Community College , there were presenters from other colleges who were a part of the SMART program. The support not only came from the education community. A number of people from business and industry volunteered to conduct workshops with activities to excite our future scientists, engineers and technicians.

In the summer of 2004, the Center for Optical Technologies launched Opto Camp hosted at Northampton Community College . Seventeen students ranging from ages 11-15 participated in the weeklong camp. Financial support to develop and run the camp came from the state of Pennsylvania . Edmund Optics, based in New Jersey , contributed images for use in promotional materials for the camp as well as some supplies. This summer three Opto Camps were held with thirty students participating. Diamonex Products, Allentown , helped by supplying samples needed for an optics demonstration and Lehigh Valley Hospital provided tours to give the kids a chance to see how optical technologies are used in the medical field. Besides donating materials for all three camps, two female engineers from Edmund Optics came to the girl's camp to conduct a demonstration showing how optics is used in industry and to speak about career opportunities in optics.

This summer the highest participation was in the Opto Camp that was specifically geared toward middle school-aged girls. As you might have guessed, Heather was there. Other girls who had attended the SMART program took part in Opto Camp as well.

Feedback from parents and children alike indicated that both the SMART programs and Opto camps promoted interest. Some girls participated in both SMART programs. Many parents commented that they heard about what we did in Opto camp every evening. Innovation was inspired as well. One group in the 2004 Opto camp discovered a laser diode and decided to modify their optical transmitter to carry a radio signal via laser rather than an LED. It is exciting to have the “innovators” who are now in high school taking part in our Technology Explorers Post at NCC. It is also very rewarding when programs provide kids with the confidence to try. One boy beamed with delight as he told his mom, “I built this all by myself,” referring to the telegraph he made at camp that day.

The success of the programs described above were a result of collaboration. The support of business and industry enhances programs such as these and is vital for their continuance. In addition to volunteers and equipment/material donations, ongoing financial support is needed to make these important camps and programs accessible to all children who might benefit. Please contact me, Barbara Canfield , to learn more how you can support these programs by calling 610-861-5559 or bcanfield@northampton.edu .

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