Nearly 450 Attend Recent "Expanding
Your Horizons" Conference
Nearly 300 students and 150 adults participated in the day’s activities at the 14th Expanding Your Horizons Sonoma County conference on campus, which was highlighted by an afternoon address by NASA astronaut Dr. Ellen Ochoa.
The conference was opened by Provost Eduardo Ochoa who welcomed the seventh and eighth grade girls and young women to SSU, encouraging them to take more mathematics and science in high school in order to expand their career and educational options. The attendees then dispersed to more than 85 hands-on workshops led by women professionals representing industries and companies from throughout Sonoma County as well as education professionals from SSU and Santa Rosa Junior College. Workshops covered a wide range of topics such as bridge building, veterinary medicine and aviation. SSU faculty from the departments of anthropology, biology, chemistry, computer science, geography, mathematics, nursing, and physics and astronomy led workshops,
In addition, many SSU students, faculty, and staff volunteered to help organize the conference over the last several months. Many of the staff in Student Outreach helped with conference logistics. Several campus organizations such as the Bookstore, the Seawolves Athletic Association and EXCEL donated items for the raffle.
A highlight of the day’s activities was the NASA booth coordinated by the NASA Education and Public Outreach Group at SSU during the lunchtime activities. The astronaut was there to talk to participants and autograph photos. In addition, a dozen community organizations staffed booths and tables in order to talk to participants about volunteer opportunities related to math and science such as Canine Companions for Independence and the Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue Center. Others encouraged the young women to consider high schools with an emphasis on science, such as Technology High School located at SSU. The SSU Math Club and the Computer Science Club also had tables and spoke with participants about programs available at SSU.
Concurrent with the student workshops was a workshop for adults and teachers. They discussed issues such as getting ready for college and applying for financial aid. After some faculty from the School of Science and Technology did a presentation on programs at SSU, one parent told them she did not know that such programs were available locally. She was especially interested in hearing about the new Engineering Sciences program.
More information can be found about Expanding Your Horizons at http://eyh-soco.org.