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Dear AAUW New Jersey members,
Thank you for everything you've done to support Tech Trek New Jersey these past two years. A detailed list of special thanks appears below, and as you read it, please consider visiting https://techtrek-nj.aauw.net/volunteer/ so you can join these amazing women for next year's camp!
Special Thanks
In 2014-15, Michelle Douglass of Atlantic County had the vision, the passion, and the dedication to write our founding grant and catalyze our collectively strong desire to narrow the wage gap and strive for equality in the STEM fields. Thank you Michelle, our Founding Director.
In our second year, Michelle recruited Ann Marchesani, an equally dedicated, passionate retired educator as Assistant Director to scale the camp up from 30 Atlantic and Cape May-only girls to 60 girls from eleven counties where branch members volunteered to help select them. When our founding Student Selection Chair Mary Hardwick moved away from New Jersey, Gail Davis from Atlantic County stepped up to read 130 nominations, and coordinated more than 30 volunteers to interview 120 girls. Special thanks to Ann, Gail, and to the co-chair teams Dottie Pearson and Marga Matheny from Cape May, Annette Benanti and Barbara Williamson from Northern Monmouth, Nina DelCollo from Nutley, Ann Raynor from Greater Wayne, Judy Vernon and Mariel Kolker from Madison, Trudy Iwanski and Barbara Prince from Freehold, Betty Jane Drews from Trenton, Betty Magjuka and Marlene Colbeck from Camden, Edwina Sessons and Marjorie Jones from Willingboro, Dawn Watkins and her amazing mom in Bridgeton/Cumberland county, and to ALL the interviewers who selected our campers.
Thanks also to Shevi Salberg for her indispensable technological skills and for helping Dottie Pearson to organize Professional Women's Night for 41 guests from STEM fields that spanned Aviation to Zoology. Thank you to ALL the Professional Women who attended as well. Thanks to our dorm moms who stayed overnight: Carolyn Bassett, Rae'Jean Boyd, Jahnise Clemens, Robin Connor, Jacqueline D'Alessio, JoAnne Imperatore, Evelyn Lovitz, Tracey McNally, Joan Penn, Rajvi Shah, Anastasia Taing, Stacey Trimble, and Marilynn Whittle. Thanks especially to Dawn Watkins for coordinating all these volunteers!
Another round of thanks go to the Northern Monmouth branch for making the campers' journals, and for helping Cape May county's Marion Ingram, who led a team of volunteers to collect snack donations for all 60 campers.
Many, many thanks also go to every AAUW member who has donated so generously to make the camp possible, and especially to Peg Fiore for her fabulous fundraising. Carol Cohen's leadership, Marian Wattenbarger's and Ginny Lyttle's stewardship of the Charitable Trust, have continued to support and inspire your team of AAUW volunteers who believe passionately in the power of making STEM Tech Trek camp available to girls in New Jersey.
The campers made thank you cards for more than 300 people who made this camp possible, and attached is a photo they've sent to all of you, AAUW New Jersey members, to say THANK YOU for everything you continue to do to support this camp.
Claudine Keenan
Dean of Education
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