UW-Parkside's campus was taken over by hundreds of middle school girls Thursday in the name of math and science.Five hundred middle schoolers from the Racine Unified School District participated in the 12th annual GEMS conference, which stands for Girls Empowered by Math and Science.Thursday was 8th grader Selena Prater's second year participating in the conference."When I first joined, I thought it was going to be something I wasn't interested in," Prater admitted. "But doing different things and using my hands, it's really fun." Conference participants took part in campus tours and more than a dozen workshops, covering topics from the impact of solar power on farm animals to robotics and coding.Robin Smerchek has been a part of the program from the beginning and serves on the conference's planning committee. As a mechanical engineer, she knows firsthand how crucial these programs are.Watch: RUSD middle school girls take over UW-Parkside for STEM conference RUSD middle school girls take over UW-Parkside for STEM conference"When I started working in '74, my profession had about 10 to 12 percent women," Smerchek explained. "Then when I retired in 2013, there was about the same amount." She believes it's important to invest in programs that encourage young girls to get involved in STEM early."I'm thinking about starting to do it," 8th grader Arreauna Graham said of a career in STEM.For Graham, it was watching speakers share stories of success and failure that she could relate to, which made her feel more confident about the future. Its about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for TMJ4 on your device.Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.Report a typo or error // Submit a news tip