FARRELL 20 scholarships available for PSU technology camp

The scholarship value of the trip to camp is $21,000.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
FARRELL, Pa. -- As many as 20 Farrell pupils will get a chance to attend a technology camp for free at Pennsylvania State University's main campus in State College this summer.
Superintendent Richard Rubano said Farrell has been offered participation in the Penn State Nanofabrication Technology Chip Camp scheduled for June 19-21.
Participation will be free for up to 20 pupils, and that's a scholarship worth $21,000, Rubano said.
Farrell will have to arrange for transportation but Penn State will contribute up to $350 for that expense, he said.
Pupils will stay in a college dormitory and spend time working in a college lab learning how to make microchips that are used for such things as information storage, sensor, microelectrical, pharmaceutical and biomedical applications.
Rubano said Farrell got the offer because it is the home of a federal HOPE VI public housing reconstruction project. Mercer County Housing Authority will tear down and replace the old Steel City Terrace apartment complex on Spearman Avenue and has received a $9 million federal HOPE VI grant to help finance the project.
One of four: JoAnn Newell, community self-sufficiency coordinator for the project, said Farrell is one of four communities in the state invited to this year's camp. Two are in Philadelphia and one is in Pittsburgh.
The program initially targeted children living in the HOPE VI project area but was expanded to the Farrell schools so that the entire community could be involved, she said.
The camp is open to pupils in grades seven, eight and nine who have an interest in math, science and technology. Pupils who want to participate must write a 50-word essay on why they want to attend.
"This is a phenomenal opportunity for our kids," Rubano said. "We could not afford to send 20 kids to Penn State for this."
Participation in the camp will enhance Farrell's math and science programs and give the pupils experience in cutting-edge technological systems, he said.