Two Fort Vancouver students make a splash at high-tech event

A few weeks ago, Fort Vancouver High School students Daysha Baker and Ibette Valle had a clear vision of what careers they might choose.

Baker had designs on becoming an attorney; Valle, a research psychologist.

Now, they’re not so sure — but that’s a good thing. Because the sophomores, each 15, recently got a hands-on, three-day introduction to the metro area’s high-tech world, and it opened their eyes and minds.

“I started having different thoughts,” Baker said. “Hmmm, interesting. … That might be a different door I go through.”

That’s precisely the reaction desired by organizers of a SEMI High Tech University session held in the Hillsboro, Ore., area late last month.

A joint project of the SEMI Foundation — for the manufacturers association Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International — and sponsoring employers, High Tech University reaches out to high school sophomores and juniors who have “unrealized potential” in math and science, and aren’t aware of the many lucrative careers in “STEM” — science, technology, engineering and math.

For many impressionable teens, it’s a first chance to feel how central these jobs are to modern life.

“Engineers make our makeup, they make our food,” Valle said. She, too, came away intrigued by the possibilities.

It was the 100th SEMI event to increase student exposure, touching more than 3,000 students so far.

STEM is still a masculine branch of endeavor

This time, nearly three dozen girls from 15 Oregon and Southwest Washington high schools got a close-up look at what STEM really is.

Baker and Valle were joined by two Fort classmates, Marisol Garcia-Quiroz and Jessica Rangel, and by Heather Grove, a Hudson’s Bay High School freshman.

The pair were standouts during three days of problem-solving team projects and experiments in statistics, math, electronics, nanotechnology and solar and alternative energies. Hosts were Intel Corp., SolarWorld and Portland Community College’s Rock Creek campus.

The two built small catapults and designed a small security alarm. They visited a secure “clean room” (with escorted trips to use the restroom) and helped to manufacture a microchip. They toured a solar panel assembly area, and tried strange chemistry experiments.

They also shined in mock interviews with company representatives who showed the young women the ropes of selling themselves.

In the end, Baker scored the University’s highest honor: A $1,000 scholarship, voted by peers, that she’ll use for her education needs, from a new computer to textbooks and other items, she said.

The award recognized her STEM aptitude and positive attitude, including skills as a team player.

“Just being myself,” Baker said with a wide smile. “I just told them how I felt, showed my positive attitude.” She quickly made new friends — and besides, she said, “I like math a lot.

“I like challenges. I like to do things I know are going to be hard; I like that it’s not going to be easy,” she said.

Valle was also singled out for her strong interviews, demonstrating poise, confidence and smart, concise answers.

“I’d hire her in a heartbeat,” said Brian Janecek, senior recruiter at SolarWorld, in comments relayed to the Southwest Washington Workforce Development Council, which helped recruit the Clark County student contingent.

Valle isn’t ready to commit. But she is dead-set on being the first in her family to get a full college education, she said.

Fort Vancouver teacher Jim Dawson taught both stars in his advanced business law course, part of the school’s legal magnet program. Now leading a tech tools and career choices class, he accompanied them to Oregon and liked what he saw.

“It is so impressive to see a group of high-powered young minds working together,” Dawson said.

The Vancouver school district is piloting new STEM classes at Fort, which besides the legal magnet also hosts welding and culinary arts programs.

“We’re trying to get more courses that lead into those fields,” said Debby Evans, Fort’s coordinator of work-based learning.

Howard Buck: 360-735-4515 or howard.buck@columbian.com.