On Friday, Nov. 3, more than 550 seventh- and eighth-grade girls will travel to the University of Missouri-Rolla campus to learn how fun science, mathematics, engineering and technology can be.

Girls who attend Expanding Your Horizons (EYH), a one-day conference to be held at UMR, will interact with women working in traditionally male occupations, participate in hands-on workshops, meet other young women with similar interests, and learn about career opportunities for women in mathematics, engineering, science and technology.

Attendees will participate in four sessions, including two hands-on workshops, a career panel, and a keynote speech by UMR graduate Lynn Flaim, director of human resources and professional service sourcing at DuPont Sourcing and Logistics.

EYH offers participants 20 different hands-on workshop topics, including a veterinarian and her pets, isolating DNA, glass making, and understanding radiation.

“We hope that by providing young women with information, role models and positive hands-on experiences at EYH, they will become more interested in and aware of careers in math, science, engineering and technology,” says Laura Grentz, coordinator of distance and continuing education at UMR.

Grentz also strives to enhance young women’s confidence, so they may succeed in math and science studies. “While in Washington D.C. this past year at the National Science Foundation Teachers’ Award Banquet, it was amazing to listen to some of the stories from the best of our nation’s teachers,” Grentz says. “Many of them similarly recalled one person in their lives who had interested them in math and science career fields, typically at the junior-high age.”

For more information on Expanding Your Horizons, contact UMR’s distance and continuing education office at 573-341-6576.