The Sally Ride Science Junior Academy summer program at UC San Diego runs through July 21 at Mission Bay High School, 2475 Grand Ave., and participating students and their mentors are raving about it.
The program is a partnership between Sally Ride Science, the education company Ride co-founded in 2001, and UC San Diego. The program’s goal is to continue the mission of Ride and her co-founders to expand educational opportunities in the sciences, especially for girls and young women.
The Sally Ride Science Junior Academy is aimed at students in grades sixth through 12th. It offers hands-on workshops in the science of earthquakes, space exploration, oceanography, robotics, culinary chemistry, 3-D modeling, virtual reality and more. 
The program brings top-notch STEAM instructors, many from Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, together with hundreds of middle and high school students.
The program is designed to help close the gender gap in science, technology, engineering, arts and math, or STEAM, fields. Currently, women represent 57 percent of all bachelor of science degrees, but only receive 18 percent of computer science degrees awarded and 19 percent of the degrees awarded in both engineering and physics. 
The university’s Junior Academy was praised by participating students and their instructors.
Student Kylie Fernandez liked the Academy’s slimy sea creatures class for middle schoolers.
“I like the Sally Ride Science junior academy because it’s hands-on and the work we do is interactive, and so we also get to meet new people at the same time,” Fernandez said.
High school student Karina, in the Introduction to Digital 3D Modeling Using Maya class, commented, “I love seeing more women in computing, and I’ve been able to meet a lot of like-minded girls who also like science.”
“It’s fun,” said student Jazmine.
The program was praised by its teachers as well. Dara Goldberg, instructor of the Space Out! Class, and also a Ph.D. graduate student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, reported her middle-school class “squealed with delight while learning about Newton’s third law by launching mini-rockets they designed.”
Cecilia Chow, instructor of both the Art of Anatomy and Introduction to Makey-Makey classes said, “The intersection of art and science is a concept that my students are really embracing. The science-minded are learning more about art and vice-versa.  Interdisciplinary concepts within the program will strengthen students’ interest in the STEAM fields.”
The Academy’s workshops were developed through a unique partnership between UC San Diego Extension, the San Diego Super Computer Center and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. There is still space available for these innovative summer workshops.
For more information about Sally Ride Science at UC San Diego, visit www.sallyridescience.com.