GEMS exposes girls to careers in math and science

Honey Freitas, left, and Kamalyn Kekoa-Jara build a ball support structure Tuesday at GEMS at King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel.

For the past 20 years the American Association of University Women-Kona has hosted GEMS (Girls Exploring Math and Science) for West Hawaii’s fifth-grade girls to get them excited and exposed to careers in the math and science fields.

This year, 329 girls from public, private and home schools converged at King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel, attending exhibits and exploring careers in fields ranging from archaeology, veterinary science, chemistry, robotics, finance, engineering, food science and more.