Camp Tiger provides student from Afghanistan with first educational experience in more than two years

Attending Camp Tiger at Rochester Institute of Technology is the first educational experience in more than two years for one camper new to the area from Afghanistan. Leaving behind her mother and three brothers in Kabul, Afghanistan, Mariam Khalil spent more than a year on a journey – much of it by foot – before arriving in Rochester about two months ago.

Now, living in the city with her father, the 15-year-old said she’s ready for school in the fall after participating in two summer camp experiences at RIT – SMASH Camp and Community STEM Challenge. Camp Tiger is RIT’s largest and oldest summer camp experience facilitated by the K-12 University Center, and provides hundreds of youth annually with opportunities to have fun and learn STEAM disciplines in science, technology, engineering, art and math.

“In my country, Afghanistan, there was a problem with the Taliban coming in and they don’t let girls go to school; not even if you’re a child,” she said. “I’m so proud to have education back and a place to learn – it’s a feeling I can’t explain – but still feel so sad for other girls, like my friends who can’t go and just sit at home all day.”

With an interest in math and science, Khalil said she joined two camps this summer with help from her advocate.

Chojy Schroeder connected with Khalil nine weeks ago through a Rochester-based program called Refugees Helping Refugees. When she heard camp was back for the summer after a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she said she knew it would be the perfect opportunity to sign up Khalil for the experiences, starting with SMASH camp.

“I have worked before with professor (Kara) Maki with SMASH, and she had communicated with me to say the program is back on,” Schroeder said. “It was right as I met Mariam, and it was like the universe was calling to me to say, ‘Let her be there,’ so I knew we had to get Mariam to be a part of that.”

Schroeder’s passion in education stems from her love of learning.

“When I was a young kid, I used to register myself for summer school,” she said. “We couldn’t afford camps, so to me that was my summer camp and it got me out of the house. Now, I’m interested in working with kids and having them go to school as soon as they arrive here. For Mariam, she is truly unique in terms of trying to advance as fast as possible and become a part of this community. It’s amazing.”

SMASH Camp – Summer Math Applications in Science with Hands-On Experience for Girls – provides eighth-grade students with a unique weeklong summer opportunity introducing them to the connections of math and science, and increases self-efficacy in math. According to organizers, at SMASH, math is hands-on, it’s done in the lab, is done collaboratively in the classroom, it is done by mathematicians and scientists, and it is done to help the community. SMASH is a grant-funded camp partnered with RIT's College of Science with support from Camp Tiger.

Community STEM Challenge, funded by the Army Educational Outreach Program, allows camper to apply STEM to real life. Campers work together to identify a problem in the community and try to solve it using the scientific method or engineering design process. Curriculum for the workshop aligns with the eCybermission program, a free web-based STEM competition for middle school students, and supported by AEOP.