Girls in grades 4 through 8 from various districts across the region took part in the annual Women in Tech - Growing Self eSTEAM Girls Camp, held this year at Calcium Primary in Indian River Central School District on Wednesday, April 8, 2026. The event was organized by MORIC Instructional Technology Specialists, Allison Blackwell, Laurie Yager, Susan Bock, and the Instructional Technology Team at the Mohawk Regional Information Center. What made this year’s camp particularly noteworthy was the inclusion of the New York Power Authority (NYPA) as a new partner, alongside NYSCATE, a long-standing supporter. Thanks to NYPA’s involvement, the camp was offered at no cost to participating districts, and students enjoyed unique hands-on experiences such as piloting three types of drones and interacting with an advanced robotic dog, making the event both accessible and unforgettable.
More than 40 girls participated from 12 districts in the MORIC region including Alexandria, Beaver River, Clinton, Copenhagen, Holland Patent, Indian River, Lowville, Poland, Richfield Springs, South Jefferson, South Lewis, Thousand Islands, and Watertown. Girls came together for a dynamic day packed with technology-driven activities. Throughout the event, participants explored a variety of hands-on experiences designed to spark critical thinking, nurture creativity, and foster collaborative communication. This immersive environment not only connected students from diverse communities but also empowered them to develop practical skills and build meaningful relationships as they worked together on innovative projects and challenges.
As the girls arrived, they worked on creating Post-It Pixel Art, created self-portraits, and created binary keychains to encourage teamwork and getting to know one another. After that, groups rotated through 3 different activities. Each girl designed their own t-shirt using iron on patches and created wearable circuit monsters to attach to their shirts. They also created a group chant with the help of AI prompting and lastly engaged in a robotic Ozobot Secret Maze. As a whole group they engaged in an engineering challenge, where they created a “hamster wheel” out of paper and used coding with the Ozobot to put the wheel into motion. Then the teams were able to compete against each other to see which wheel would cross the finish line first. They reflected on the choices they made when creating the wheel and the coding, and changes they made to their design during the process to achieve optimal speed and alignment. After a break for lunch, the New York Power Authority ruled the afternoon. Volunteers from NYPA ushered the girls through 4 different stations. Students were able to fly a Skidio 10, an Elios Drone and learn how NYPA completes inspections of confined spaces and generate videos, pictures, and LiDar map data. Students experienced the Robot Dog operation from Boston Dynamics, and lastly students were able to remotely operate a drone in Albany from a computer and learn about NYPA’s hydrodam; only 30 people have operated this drone remotely, and now we get to add our girls from our region to that list!
The event offered an entire day packed with interactive learning opportunities designed to inspire and empower young women throughout our region. By engaging directly with technology, the girls were encouraged to nurture their curiosity and strengthen their enthusiasm for exploring new ideas. The collaboration with NYPA significantly enriched the experience, providing meaningful connections to real-world applications in STEAM fields. This partnership enabled students to interact with cutting-edge technology, robotics, and drones, opening doors to future possibilities and demonstrating the diverse opportunities available to women in these dynamic industries.
