By Mark Muckenfuss

CSUMB organizers said an inaugural weeklong camp aimed at encouraging local Black high school students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics was an inspiring success and they hope to expand the program next year. 

“It was an incredibly successful program,” said Yhashika Lee, a Cinematic Arts lecturer who directed the camp and a crew of facilitators. “I had my hopes, and it totally exceeded those hopes.”

The group of 25 high school juniors and seniors attended a series of classes and workshops and also had activity outings, such as horseback riding and a tour of Elkhorn Slough. 

The Helen Rucker Center for Black Excellence Summer STEAM Pathway program for African American juniors and seniors received major funding from grants from Chevron and the Chancellor's Office's Black Success workgroup. 

“We want Black students to understand there is a path for them through STEAM and to see that you can take these classes in college,” Lee said. 

Violet Ross, a junior at Monterey High School, is hoping to pursue a career in computer engineering with a focus on cybersecurity. 

“We had computer science class every day,” Ross said. “That helped me learn more about what college would entail.”

She particularly enjoyed a lecture on ethnomathematics. 

“It’s how math has been involved in culture and impacted it,” Ross said, noting that the talk focused on such things as architecture and patterns in artwork.

STEAM subjects were even introduced into such things as the students’ horseback riding experience. Lee said they were shown how math is used to calculate how much feed an individual horse needs. 

Many students were impressed by the workshop on cinematic arts, where CSUMB Professor Enid Ryce directed them in how to record interviews with one another and create some stop-motion animation videos. Ryce also helped allocate Summer Bridge funds to pay for the residential housing for the students.

“It was really cool because they let us work with a $25,000 camera,” said Kayden Pajimola, a junior at Seaside High School. 

There were larger lessons to learn as well, Pajimola said. 

“What I really learned this week was teamwork,” he said. “It was cool to work with different people and build connections with them. As the days went along, everyone started to get along better and work as a group, as a whole.”

For Erica Ramos, a senior at Marina High School who plans to pursue a college degree in biochemistry, the teamwork component was important.

“Working in groups, working together, critical thinking, that all plays into my major,” she said. 

The camp may also serve as a good recruiting tool. 

“I wasn’t considering CSUMB,” said Ramos, who will be applying to college this fall, “but after this, I might. It really changed my mind on CSUMB.”