About Camp Reach

Camp Reach is not your typical pre-teen girls’ summer camp. There are few pillow fights and no macaroni sculpture. Instead, young women about to enter seventh grade have fun with technology, tackle real problems, and get up close and personal with the way things work. A summer residential program for Massachusetts girls who are at least 11 years old, and who have an interest in learning more about science and engineering careers, Camp Reach exposes participants to science and engineering concepts through discovery workshops and field trips. Perhaps most exciting of all, the girls apply what they learn as they complete hands-on community service projects.

The program runs for two weeks each summer. The 2013 program will be held July 21- August 2, 2013. Apply for the program here. Campers are expected to participate for the entire program.  During the middle weekend of the program, we have fun and learn through interactive and informative programming that empowers the girls and inspires them to be their best selves. Camp Reach focuses on instilling self-esteem, encouraging positive body image, and promoting antiviolence of all types. 

Published in 2009, a Camp Reach longitudinal study of 176 young women at completion of high school who either attended Camp Reach as rising seventh graders or applied but were not chosen (Control), shows:
Camp Reach makes a positive difference over the long term	More girls from the Camp Reach population enrolled in the  Mass Academy of Math and Science as high school students Camp Reach participants gave more complete definitions of engineering and recalled program activities involving working together in teams to solve problems and to create structures or products. Almost 18 percent of Camp Reach participants intended on pursuing an engineering major in college, as compared with 2.9 percent in the Control group and a national average of 2.5 percent for women. Regardless of education or career plans, participants cited Camp Reach as providing a sense of empowerment and self-confidence.
Applicants to Camp Reach are an important population to support	As high school students, all study groups showed high self-ratings of computer skills, math abilities, and intellectual self-confidence compared to national averages for women High enrollments in calculus, physics, and STEM enrichment activities as high school students

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