Written by Claire Gibson, Marketing and Communications Manager, SARSEF
This year, SARSEF celebrated 20 years of Applied Career Exploration in STEM (ACES) Camp for girls. Every July, middle school girls from Sunnyside Unified School District join SARSEF for a week of STEM activities and career exploration. In 2026, campers got to tour the Bayer Marana Innovation Center, Roche Tissue Diagnostics, Banner Hospital in Tucson, and Pima Community College labs and machine shops.
ACES camp is unique; there is no cost for participants and each camper is nominated by a teacher from their school. Any girl can be nominated regardless of her skills in STEM. For many, ACES camp is a pathway to discovery about STEM and possible careers. Campers feel more confident in their ability to do science and engineering and in their STEM identity at the completion of the camp. Additionally, camp counselors are often ACES alumni who enjoy returning and helping lead a new cohort of girls into the ACES community. Kayla Miranda participated as a counselor before coming back to SARSEF to work as a Programs Manager.
2026 ACES Camp
Every day is different at ACES camp. From Monday – Friday, campers engage in hands-on STEM activities such as learning about biomimicry with curriculum from the Phoenix Zoo or making an ooblek stress ball. Field trips are a fan-favorite activity at the camps. While visiting Bayer Marana Innovation Center, campers got to learn about corn agronomy and see giant greenhouses full of corn stalks. Bayer Marana also incited three female staff and scientists from their team to come talk to the campers about their experience and pathway to STEM.
At Banner Hospital, campers donned surgical cloves and learned about pathology and human anatomy. They then got to test their skills with pipettes and microscopes to learn about how labs test for certain bacteria and viruses with Sonora Quest Laboratory. At each location, the girls jumped in and engaged with the presenters, even if the information made them a little squeamish.
With the end of each field trip, the girls chattered about what they learned. One camper I talked to told me the experience at Banner Hospital influenced them to think about a different career path than they previously imagined.
ACES camp has a lasting presence on the campers who get to go through the program. Beyond learning about STEM and career opportunities, each camper gets to meet other girls who share similar interests or even similar disinterests in science. They do activities together, eat lunch together, and at the end of the week, campers get to showcase to their parents and community what they have accomplished through the week.
The ACES camp showcase invites families, donors, and community members to come see what girls are capable of when given the tools and mentorship to explore. This year, campers got to showcase how they applied principles of biomimicry to create technologies that can be helpful to people who live in the Sonoran Desert. Campers got to take polaroid pictures with their families and fellow campers while enjoying some pizza and cake!
At the end of their ACES experience, campers are asked to fill out a survey about what they have learned and how their perceptions of STEM and possible careers have changed as a result of the program.
- 95.2% of students agreed that they were introduced to new STEM concepts and idea in this program.
- 71.4% of students say that their plans for the future have changed as a result of this program.
- “Because of this program I feel more comfortable in STEM and interacting with different people.”
20 Years of ACES Camp for Girls
What began in 2006 as “MISS Adventures” has evolved today into a thriving camp in the Tucson community. Karen Christensen-Grubb and Rosemary Badian created MISS Adventures to give girls access to hands-on STEM experiences, visible role models, and encouragement. They saw a need in the Southern Arizona community to bring more access to STEM to young girls at a critical age where experiences and encouragement matter.
Karen Christensen-Grubb returned to ACES camp to lead an activity with paper airplanes and learning about careers in aviation. Camper had to design their own plane and then put it through a series of accuracy and distance tests.
20 tears later, more than 700 girls have participated in ACES camp, with 55 alumni returning as high school and college counselors to become mentors to girls who are sharing the same experience they once had. To honor two decades of bringing access to women in STEM, SARSEF hosted a 20th Anniversary Celebration brunch at the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona Campus on July 18, 2026, the Saturday after the 20th year of ACES camp concluded.
At the celebration, t-shirts from all 20 years covered a wall, as well as photographs of each cohort of campers and the volunteers who made it happen. Karen Christensen-Grubb, Chaunteal Kaye, Kayla Miranda, and Jeanette Mendoza participated on a panel to discuss the impact of ACES camp over the years. Chaunteal was one of the first campers in the program back in 2006 and has been a supporter of the ACES program since. Jeanette Mendoza participated as an ACES camper and counselor.
To round off the celebratory morning, Council Member Schubert presented a proclamation on behalf of Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, proclaiming that July 18, 2026 is ACES Camp Day.
Looking to the Future
With 20 years down, SARSEF hopes to help facilitate another 20 years of ACES camp. SARSEF’s mission is to help create the next generation of critical thinkers and problem solvers through science and engineering. We recognize and work to remove barriers in STEM, including for girls.
We would like to thank the generous partners who support the ACES program and those who opened their doors to middle school girls to come explore their space. If you are interested in partnering with SARSEF in the future, contact director@sarsef.org.
