Welcome to Girls Inc. Week! Wait, “Girls Inc. Week”? What’s that?
Girls Inc. Week is a time to celebrate and encourage girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Girls Inc. affiliates throughout the nation are celebrating the week by recognizing our work to encourage girls to participate and pursue areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
At Girls Inc. of Greater Indianapolis, we are excited to share the variety of ways we immerse girls in STEM activities and help them envision futures in STEM careers. Here are a few ways we do that:
- Our Lunch Bunch program matches girls with professional female mentors, often in STEM careers, to explore a variety of professions and set educational and career goals. These women encourage girls to consider traditionally male-dominated fields and set an example as a successful woman with a career in STEM. Watch this Lunch Bunch video to learn how the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) inspired girls to consider mechanical engineering as a career.
- In the summer we offer STEM based programming during our summer camp. This year, girls will participate in activities from our former Camp GEMS (Girls Energized by Math and Science), during our two-week Smart Camp. Girls will explore science at Marian University’s Ecolab, develop and run their own businesses,
- Also in the summer, we offer our Girls Inc. Operation SMART program to community centers, libraries, and other youth-serving groups. This summer girls will learn about geology, and in particular, the science behind earthquakes and tsunamis. Girls will apply their new knowledge to the earthquake in Japan and closer to home as Indiana lies on a fault line!
Celebrate Girls Inc. Week with us via Twitter this Thursday, May 12 at 3 p.m. EST as we discuss the issue of girls and STEM participation. To join, follow @girlsincindy and @girls_inc and use the hashtag #STEM4Girls.