IBM employee Sarena Meyer strongly believes that it is “cool for girls to be geek”. That’s why for seven years she has been involved with Girls Go TechKnow, a week-long camp at IBM’s T.J. Watson Research Lab in Westchester County, NY. Thanks to the support of nearly 100 IBMers who volunteer their time and expertise to the camp, students are introduced to robotics, engineering, kitchen chemistry, and hone their presentation skills.

Girls in middle school are “at a crucial age, when they stop raising their hands first when they know the answer and become more concerned with what other people think of them. It’s important that they see that they can use their own abilities in math and science to do good things, that it’s not uncool,” says Sarena. “This program is a great way to help girls see the many opportunities available for females in technology and science. It opens their eyes to sciences at the college level which is particularly important as most are first-generation college-bound students,” says Martha Rodriquez, a teacher whose students have participated in the camp.

Sarena is doing her part to ensure the success of Girls Go TechKnow.

“We want to encourage young women to continue to pursue math and science classes by providing them with access to successful technical female role models and to demonstrate that technology can be fun and exciting.”