In June 2000, Mercer University hosted Mercer MESSAGE, a summer camp for elementary school girls. Mercer MESSAGE is part of the Central South Summer Camp Program. The program consists of four essential elements: 1) Mercer MESSAGE, an all-girl summer math and science day camp, 2) Mercer TECH, a co-ed summer engineering day camp, 3) Central South Summer Camp reunions during the school year, and 4) continued communication with campers through e-mail or phone. The program targets 5th, 6th and 7th grade girls and features a tiered-mentoring process that is designed to match campers with high school students, college students, and college faculty who excel in science, mathematics and/or engineering. The mentors work in both camps and continue their mentoring activities throughout the following school year. The Central South Summer Camp evaluation plan, which includes qualitative and quantitative measures, will be used to assess program effectiveness and to help determine if girls who participate in this program have developed a sustained interest in math, science or engineering.
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