This summer, over 200 middle school girls will touch down on Stanford’s campus. These campers will use the University’s facilities to learn about leadership, friendship, outdoor activities — and structural engineering, bioengineering and astronomy.

Sally Ride, the first American woman in space and a Stanford graduate, is launching her very own week-long Sally Ride Science Camps this year to expand upon the success of her one-day science festivals held throughout the country over the past year and a half.

In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Ride said she was “overwhelmed by the reactions we’d get [regarding the festivals] . . . The comment we would get most often from parents at the festivals was, ‘Thank you so much for introducing my daughters to role models other than Britney Spears.’ ”

Ride is involved with the camp’s planning as a member of its advisory board, and she will conduct video conference calls with the girls during each of the three camp sessions. She said she hopes to visit the camp and meet the girls as well.

Also on the advisory board is Jim Plummer, dean of the School of Engineering. The School of Engineering serves as the camp’s on-campus sponsor.

“We’re delighted to do this,” Plummer said. “[The School of Engineering] is involved with some of the planning, designing the curriculum, and we have some students who are volunteering to help out. It’s such a great opportunity, and I wish I had daughters that age so that they could take advantage of this.”

Stefanie Rafanelli will serve as the camp’s executive director. Rafanelli is also a Stanford graduate, as well as a former varsity soccer player. She currently teaches seventh grade science at Menlo School.

“I’m so excited to have the opportunity to work with Ride,” she said. “One of our biggest hopes is to capture a wonderful natural curiosity at a moment when taking risks is really hard. Girls lose interest at this age because it becomes less cool to take risks and fail, which is really what science is all about. We want girls to continue to pursue their passion by providing a safe and ungraded environment of all girls, to nurture their curiosity.”

According to studies, such as one conducted in 2000 by the Educational Equity of Girls and Women, National Center for Education Statistics, girls begin to lose interest in math and science in middle school. The 2000 study showed that in fourth grade, the number of girls and boys who like math and science is about equal, but by eighth grade, twice as many boys as girls show an interest in these subjects.

“Girls just don’t identify with these [math and science] career options the way that boys do,” Ride told the Chronicle. “It might just not be as cool to be involved in science, to be the best person in math class. At the camp, we’ll have women who are normal, from oceanographers to rocket scientists. They won’t be wearing pocket protectors.”

Campers select a focus subject, on which the camp’s structure centers. Mornings at the University are spent exploring this concentration through labs, discussions and guided research. Afternoons and evenings are spent in traditional camp activities in crafts and athletics as well as team-building and leadership training workshops.

Rafanelli emphasized the holistic importance of the camp.

“In all these realms, we will allow them to get their voices heard and not be afraid, to capitalize on what all girls have — a natural curiosity about the world and a willingness to explore.”