WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos earlier this week visited with sixth through eighth grade girls participating in the Smithsonian's "She Can" STEM Summer Camp to highlight the exciting opportunities available in STEM fields. The camp, which was open to Washington, D.C. area girls who attend Title 1 Schools, doubled in size with support from the Department of Education. President Donald J. Trump donated his second quarter salary to the Department of Education to fund a STEM-focused camp.

At the camp, students learned about the science of flight and were exposed to a wide array of aviation-related activities and career paths. During the Secretary's visit she worked with a group of girls to build and fly their own drones, was a passenger in an FAA-certified flight simulator and toured the Boeing Aviation Hangar.

"It was a joy to be with this promising group of young girls as they discovered just how fun and interesting STEM can be," said Secretary DeVos. "I hope this experience inspires and empowers them to explore STEM career fields and perhaps become our future astronauts, cyber security experts and airplane pilots."

This year the Department will invest more than $200 million dollars in discretionary grants to promote STEM education.