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Wichita State University To Host 3rd Annual STEM Conference

http://www.expandingyourhorizons.org

Dozens of middle school girls will converge on the Wichita State University campus in November for a day of hands-on learning with science activities.

As KMUW’s Deborah Shaar reports, there’s a message built into the fun.

The third annual “Expanding Your Horizons” conference on November 7th is all about giving young women time to explore career options in STEM fields, which includes science, technology, engineering and math.

"I hope they become inspired and start thinking about careers that may not have even known about before," says Wichita State University Chemistry Professor Moriah Beck.

Beck says the conference features 18 workshops on topics such as coding and computer programming, exploring DNA biology, chemistry experiments and bird migration.

Beck says about 150 girls participated last year. She’s hoping for 200 this year.

"We try to expand their horizons by providing them with these role models and mentors and so they are not just doing the activities," she says. "They are actually starting to be able to envision themselves in these women’s shoes."

Beck says there will be sessions for parents too, on topics such as college financing and preparing for college admission tests.

Registration for the Expanding Your Horizons conference is on a first come, first serve basis through Friday, October 31. Girls in grades six through eight at any Kansas middle school are eligible to attend. For more information about the conference and registration, visit www.expandingyourhorizons.org/conferences/wichita

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Deborah joined the news team at KMUW in September 2014 as a news reporter. She spent more than a dozen years working in news at both public and commercial radio and television stations in Ohio, West Virginia and Detroit, Michigan. Before relocating to Wichita in 2013, Deborah taught news and broadcasting classes at Tarrant County College in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area.