How one Oregon summer camp is using music to help teens explore STEM careers 

Around two dozen teenagers are spending a July afternoon in the music halls of Linfield University, nestled just beyond the vineyards of McMinnville, Oregon.  

“One, two, three, one,” shouts 16-year-old Dulceluna Cebrera Gomez, who then gives a slight nod and glides a bow across her violin strings.  

Eight teenage violinists follow. Next, the guitars start up, acting as the rhythm section. Then, the horns layer on to the traditional mariachi song the youth are rehearsing.  

It’s day four of Mariachi STEAM camp, a weeklong overnight camp for Oregon high school students that marries STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — workshops with mariachi music. (That’s the art part that stands for the A in STEAM.) The program bets that music is a way to encourage young people, especially Latino youth, toward in-demand high tech jobs. 

It comes as the U.S. is going to need thousands of more workers trained in designing and manufacturing computer chips — and fast.  Semiconductors are the building blocks for everything from electric cars to smart speakers to laptops. Jobs in the industry require training in STEM fields and tend to pay higher than average.  

This is Cebrera Gomez’s first time at this Mariachi STEAM camp.  

“I love music,” she said. “I’ve got to a point where I really want to go far with it, to be honest — but I know the stability is an issue. But when it’s STEAM Mariachi camp, it’s like all of these people got into science because of music.” 

Cebrera Gomez especially likes mariachi music, but also ’80s music, Eminem and Childish Gambino. She’s played violin for almost six years, and her friends said she had to experience the STEAM camp. 

“My friends were like, ‘Oh, like you have to go,’” she said. “‘It’s going to be so fun.’” 

 The camp started eight years ago when Romanna Flores, an employee at global chip maker Intel, had a lunchtime conversation. She and a colleague were brainstorming how to get more Latinx kids into STEM careers, when Flores said, “’Wouldn’t it be cool if they actually could see how music was integrated in all these other careers?’” 

For example, how learning reading music can help students understand advanced math helps with understanding advanced math, or how playing in a band can teach the same skills as collaborating on a manufacturing team. 

Flores herself has an art degree and has worked as a business system analyst at Intel for more than a dozen years.  

“I share my example because it’s important for students to recognize that they have choices,” Flores said. “They can actually find careers that incorporate their first passion, which for this camp is music.” 

Analysts predict the U.S. semiconductor industry will be short 67,000 engineers, technicians and computer scientists by 2030. Meanwhile, Pew research shows Hispanic workers hold less than 10% of STEM jobs.  

Intel has a major semiconductor manufacturing facility just outside of Portland and helps pay for the program. And despite announcing layoffs earlier this month, Intel still plans to fund the Mariachi STEAM camp. 

“They were very supportive,” Flores said, “and they helped us with what community partners we could reach out to.” 

The local 4-H club helps organize and staff the camp. The overnight program costs students no more than $40 for the week; the real cost is around $800 per camper.  

Most days at camp, after morning music practice, the young musicians head over to a classroom for workshops designed to expose them to STEM careers. One day is geared toward exploring college majors and researching student groups geared towards the field of study. Another day, the students learn about networking and meet with local professionals mostly in STEM fields. 

Daniel De León is a 30-year-old AI software engineer at Intel and camp instructor. He said music has always been a part of his life. 

“My parents are musicians,” De León said. “They play in a trio, and they play boleros and old school Mexican music. I grew up playing guitar and listening to it pretty much every day. I heard them rehearse every day.” 

But De León said he didn’t have his first engineering mentor until he got to college. That’s when he became excited about figuring out the science behind how things work. 

“I could apply that to the stuff I was doing when I was like, you know, putting a sub in my car.”  

He hopes campers connect with a mentor earlier than he did. 

After one of the workshops, Cebrera Gomez said doesn’t yet know what she wants to major in at college. 

“Right now, it’s science and engineering that this week have really been like, ‘Whoa!’ to me,” she said. “All these workshops really have opened my eyes to how they connect with music.” 

Cebrera Gomez is already planning on coming to camp next summer. She said one adult in particular caught her eye: Flores, the camp director with an art degree working at Intel.  

“I really want to do something like her,” Cebrera Gomez said. “I know it takes risks, but I don’t want to let go of music. I really don’t.”