Three Venado Middle School Girls Win Tech Trek Scholarships

Tech Trek winners from Venado Middle School with AAUW Committee Members

The American Association of University Women (AAUW) of Laguna Beach has awarded Tech Trek scholarships to three students from Venado Middle School.

The three scholarship recipients — Bea Lansigan, Venus Rong, and Hemakshi Malik — will spend a week on the University of California, San Diego campus where they will participate in daily hands-on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) activities. The girls will be learning forensic techniques similar to those seen in the popular television series “Crime Scene Investigation (CSI),” building models, and taking a field trip to see advanced fusion energy activities at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility. The students will also meet with female professionals who will share the challenges they faced (and overcame) to pursue a career in STEM.

The AAUW Laguna Beach Foundation fully funds the Tech Trek scholarships and has sponsored middle school girls in Irvine for the past four years.