The Women Chemists Committee (WCC) Bonding with Chemistry Day Camp is an annual event with the purpose of exposing middle school girls to various areas of chemistry.
The 11th annual camp was held June 23rd and July 7th. Ninety girls participated over two separate weekends, where they learned topics from crystallization to special effects chemistry.
Tabitha Miller, co-coordinator of the camp, said, “What I enjoy most about the day camp is seeing so many young girls excited to learn science. I especially enjoy seeing both new and returning campers. The new campers because that means the word is spreading about our camp, and returning campers because that means they enjoyed it enough to want to come back.”
The camp is led by the Department of Chemistry graduate students and post-docs. They volunteer their time in an attempt to encourage girls entering sixth through eighth grades to become excited about chemistry. The camp is free to all the girls.
One of the parents said their daughter really enjoyed the camp: “She's more excited about science at school in the fall, and she wants to learn chemistry.”