Conference provides girls a peek into their future

It was a fun-filled and enlightening day for more than 400 girls in grades 6 to 9 when they attended the Tri-Valley Expanding Your Horizons (TVEYH) Conference on the Las Positas College campus on Saturday.

The annual event, now in its 37th year, is geared to increase interest and foster awareness of careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

This year's theme was "A Window Into Your Future." Las Positas College President Barry Russell, State Assemblymember Catherine Baker, Livermore Mayor John Marchand and California State Senate candidate Joan Buchanan presented welcoming remarks.

At the conference, girls participated in special group activities along with 90-minute hands-on workshops in chemistry, biotechnology, computer science, engineering, environmental science, robotics and more. Also on the agenda was a career fair comprised of 16 booths where girls met and mingled with professional women role models who are actively engaged in STEM-related careers.

There also was a program for parents on college planning, University of California and state university academic requirements, transferring from community college to a four-year university, ROP and academic pathway high school programs and financial aid.

The TVEYH targets girls from Livermore, Pleasanton, Dublin, San Ramon and Sunol but is open to girls outside this area.

The conference was coordinated by volunteers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories/California, Las Positas College and the American Association of University Women. More than 100 volunteers from these organizations donated their time to assist with the conference. Individuals interested in volunteering at next year’s conference can send an e-mail to tveyh [at] llnl.gov (subject: EYH) (tveyh[at]llnl[dot]gov).

For more information about the conference, visit the TVEYH website.

More photos from this year's conference are available on Flickr and will be available soon in the TVEYH photo gallery.