The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS) debuted its new summer outreach program this past week. The program has a goal to help get more kids from underrepresented backgrounds into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers.

The free program invited 18 high school students and will allow the participants to experience collegiate-level labs in biology, biochemistry, chemistry and human anatomy.

“I think this program will help me figure out what I want to do and what career path I want to follow,” said Eden Alexander, UCCS STEM Outreach Program participant.

The program was created with the mission to help break barriers for minority students, with hopes that the program can inspire a potential career in either medicine or scientific research.

“A lot of the times in these under-served communities, students don’t have the chance to participate in these high-level labs in biology, chemistry and anatomy and they’re kind of missing out on the impact it could have on their futures and careers. We can spot any of these talented and wonderful kids, and encourage them to pursue things like medicine or science,” said Madison Fox, creator of the UCCS STEM Outreach Program.

All week long students get the opportunity to participate in a range of labs, to get a better understanding of what they like and dislike.’

“We are doing a lot of chemistry and biology. They were able to have the opportunity to understand absorbency, and how things work in the chemistry side of things. Going into biology, they’ll be able to experiment with bacteria, different genomes, and other kinds of organisms. They are going to learn how they can apply these techniques to future careers that they want to have,” Fox said.

At the end of the program, students will also study a human cadaver to help them better understand the inter-workings of the body.

UCCS plans to expand the program in the future to include more engineering, technology and mathematics-related activities.