SYRACUSE — Makenna Gadway, who will be a freshman at Bishop Grimes High School in the fall, has always liked her math and science classes in school. 

“Anything hands-on is interesting to me,” says Gadway.

She’d like to pursue engineering for a career and is considering colleges such as Syracuse University, Clarkson University, and the Rochester Institute of Technology when she graduates in 2020. 

Ayesha Karim, who will be a freshman at Jamesville-DeWitt High School in the fall, also says she likes science, math, and technology. 

Gadway and Karim were among nearly 30 area high-school girls who participated in a summer camp meant to encourage the young women to consider careers in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

The first-time event was formally called the “CNY STEM Hub Summer Camp for Young Women Powered by AT&T.”

CNY STEM Hub, Le Moyne College, Partners For Education & Business Inc., and Dallas, Texas–based AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) organized the event. 

Le Moyne College on July 28 held a media event focused on the camp and its participants. 

AT&T contributed $20,000 to the program through AT&T Aspire, the firm’s $350 million philanthropic initiative.

Partners For Education & Business is an affiliate of MACNY, the Manufacturers Association of Central New York.

The CNY STEM Hub is “focused on impacting students in the classroom by implementing new teaching strategies in multi-disciplinary/inquiry-based methodologies with real world applications,” according to its website.

The schools represented include Nottingham, Corcoran, Henninger, Syracuse Institute of Technology, West Genesee, Bishop Ludden, Bishop Grimes, Syracuse Academy of Science, and Living World Academy. Girls from a total of 12 districts participated in the camp. 

Le Moyne College hosted the five-day camp from July 25 through July 29. Participants learned computer-coding basics, robotic engineering, computer-science literacy, and other STEM-related topics from educators and industry professionals. 

“We know that every one of those fields is at the intersection of what is making the world a better place to live,” Donna DeSiato, chair of CNY STEM Hub, said in her remarks at Le Moyne College. “It wouldn’t happen if we didn’t have our youth being prepared for these fields. DeSiato is also the superintendent of the East Syracuse-Minoa Central School District.

Linda LeMura, president of Le Moyne College, told the participants about astronaut Jeanette Epps, a Corcoran High School graduate and Le Moyne College alumna who spoke at the college’s commencement ceremony on May 22.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in physics at Le Moyne, Epps went on to earn a doctorate degree in aerospace engineering at the University of Maryland.

Epps will be a member of the crew aboard a Soyuz spacecraft when it launches from Kazakhstan in May 2018.

“Every time someone put an obstacle in front of her, she knocked it down … And because of people like Jeanette Epps, it’s just a little bit easier for all of you to do the same thing,” LeMura told the camp participants.

Kevin Hanna, regional director of AT&T external affairs, cited the U.S. Department of Labor which estimates by 2020, 2.4 million STEM-related jobs in the U.S. will be “unfilled” due to a lack of qualified candidates.

He said a “gender gap” is one reason why.

“Women make up 50 percent of the population. Today, as we’re standing here, the percent of young women studying computer science in the United States is only 18 percent. The rest are guys … 18 percent, that’s why there’s a gap,” said Hanna.

He also noted that people with a background in STEM fields will earn 26 percent more money in their work compared with those who don’t have a STEM background. 

“I truly believe that STEM is all about having fun with science, technology, engineering, and math,” Meriel Stokoe, camp director, told participants in her remarks. 

“And I hope that you take the fun and the passion from this week and you take it further.”

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com