Youth Venture

No Boundaries provides FREE science camps for "at risk" girls ages 4 - 10 to encourage early science education.

"That's a boy's job" a little neighbor girl giggled when I told her I wanted to be an astronaut. As a 13 year old girl, I got that reaction a lot. I still don't understand why. Over twenty years ago, Dr. Sally Ride broke down all kinds of walls for women, yet the same stereotypes seem to linger. Most of the girls that I baby sit spend their days twirling around in their leotards, dreaming of being dancers. Don't get me wrong, the world needs dancers, just like anything else, but as I looked at the situation more closely I realized that the dreams of these little girls were focused on what they were exposed to. In my area, even organized sports wait to start with girls until ages eight or nine. Where was the diversity for these girls?
I believed that these dancing neighbors would enjoy science related activities if they just had the opportunity to be involved with them. I tested this theory by inviting them one Saturday afternoon to a girls only "Space Camp" in our backyard. With a mix of razzle-dazzle experiments and space related arts and crafts, I quickly saw that my theory was right. For weeks after this little event I was finding hand drawn solar systems and space ships on my front porch; gifts from my little neighbors. Word spread and other parents of girls in my area started begging for me to repeat the opportunity.
From this backyard experiment – AstroTots, Space Camp for Little Dippers was born. (www.astrotots.org) What began with a handful of girls in my backyard has become a major event - five times a year – that involves dozens of volunteer youth scientists, science professionals, educators and government officials. Although adult volunteers are more than welcome; the organization, planning and leadership roles are strictly for youth volunteers. These volunteers head up teams of girls, help with experiments, rocket launches & crafts. Our last event was in such demand that we had to turn away over 100 girls!
The camps involve a variety of events. In the Martian Landscape activity, one of the most popular, girls imagine what life might be like on other planets. While they build a landscape out of red clay, (complete with toy aliens and astronauts) they discuss if aliens are hostile or friendly and talk about what they would do if one landed in their own backyard. Campers watch a real model rocket launch, build rockets out of pipe insulation, learn about how craters are formed using pudding and chocolate chips and launch film canisters into the sky with nothing more than seltzer tablets & water. They make their own worlds out of Styrofoam balls and CD's and are crowned "children of the stars" with crowns they make out of star garland and streamers. For our most recent event we were invited to use the actual Utah AstroCamp (www.astrocamputah.org) building in our area which is where I got my first exposure to space science education. Ed & Lois Douglas, even let the girls enjoy a short space shuttle mission simulation experience in the building's basement! Our campers even experience what it is like to eat in space by trying to eat bags of pudding through a straw while hanging upside down!
Why a space camp? My first visit to space camp changed how I felt about myself and helped me discover my true passion. I found that learning about the accomplishments we've had in exploring the stars and planets made anything I wanted to do here on our own planet seem within my reach. I wished that I would have had that experience earlier in my life, but to attend our local space camp, you had to be 10 or older. With AstroTots I can provide a bit of that experience for girls when they are younger and still forming their ideas of who they are and what they enjoy.
Thanks to grants, we offer AstroTots FREE to all girls in our community with a special focus on girls who may not get this kind of early exposure to science because of financial limitations. Finding funding is a constant challenge, but always worth the effort when you see a girl's face when she launches her first rocket. I would hate for her not to have that experience because of financial restrictions.
Girls aren't the only ones I am hoping to encourage. Parents of campers ask me what else they can do for their girls who seem to love this kind of thing. I tell them they need to look at what they offer their girls. In addition to the "fashion dolls" and accessories, they need to get their girls microscopes and bug nets. The first time the girls bring a bouquet of wildflowers to them they need to be praised for their scientific interest instead of being told how pretty the flowers make the house look. I knew I was changing attitudes when I got a phone call from the mom of two of my recent campers. She said her young son was watching the news when he saw some male astronauts get on the shuttle. He turned to his mom and said "Hey, I thought only GIRLS could be astronauts!"
I am often asked what gifts I think I have that have made this such a successful program. My answer is simple. I was willing to do it. I think that is the most important thing you need to have an impact on your community. If you are willing to show up – everything else will fall into place.
Astrotots is expanding all across the nation and will be going international this summer. A full time college student at 15, it is my goal to build science centers for girls all across the country when I graduate. Science has brought so much to my life, I feel I have the obligation, and blessing to do the same for other girls.
Kids are always told to reach for the stars. I want girls to know that they can take that statement literally. My goal has been to get girls thinking about exploring science in their lives. I knew I had achieved this goal when I heard a young camper telling her mom as she left camp that she wanted to be an astronaut. "But I thought you wanted to be a dancer," her mom questioned. "Not anymore," she replied, "I'm a SCIENTIST!"