Girl Powered marked a highly successful year by a number of measures. There were many workshops held internationally and across the United States, including the Girl Powered Workshop at Google’s Mountain View, CA campus and the second annual Flagship Event at Texas Instruments in Dallas, Texas. Other highlights include 491 new Girl Powered teams through sponsor grants, the Girl Powered Connect experience at VEX Worlds, and Girl Powered Online Challenges sponsored by Google.
Ann Boes, of Lab:revolution in Bismarck, MO, hosted one of the 100 Girl Powered workshops that took place during the month of October in honor of International Day of the Girl.
“One thing that struck me the most was girls in the workshop mentioning that their brothers did a lot with technology and coding, but it wasn’t something they had been encouraged to do,” said Ann. “They were so excited participate in the workshop activities and wanted to continue coding at home.”
This captures the essence of Girl Powered, which shines a light on STEM and invites girls in to explore at their own pace and have fun.
Girl Powered workshops on average engaged 15-30 attendees, and of workshop hosts surveyed, 91% would host a Girl Powered workshop again. Young women were thrilled with the inspirational engineer guest speakers and enjoyed doing hands-on STEM related activities with their peers. Overall, girls felt special, included, excited, and confident about STEM., This is exactly what these workshops are designed to accomplish.
“Our students enjoyed interacting and networking with industry professionals and girls in computer science and enjoyed seeing how many women worked in that industry,” said Sharon Ball of Patterson High School in Baltimore, MD.
We hosted our own second annual Girl Powered Flagship Event at Texas Instruments on October 20, 2018 in Dallas, TX and welcomed over 200 attendees for a day filled with inspirational speakers, and STEM activities. With keynote speaker, Dr. Knatokie Ford as well as special “Ask an Engineer” guest speakers available for girls to connect with during the event, girls were encouraged to get inspired by being immersed in a welcoming and inclusive environment dedicated to STEM exploration and amazing female leaders.
“Kudos to VEX Robotics, Inc. and REC Foundation on the flagship Girl Powered event at Texas Instruments. Hundreds of girls redefined the face of STEM and engineering! Thanks to all of the volunteers, educators, and parents that were there to support these future engineers, mathematicians, scientists, teachers, doctors, veterinarians, environmental experts…or whatever they want to do,” said Peter Balyta, vice president of academic engagement and corporate citizenship for Texas Instruments, and president of its Education Technology business.
So what does all this mean? Are these events and positive stories actually changing the landscape of girls in STEM and in VEX programs? The answer is yes! Female participation in all three of our programs has increased steadily since the inception of Girl Powered in 2016. Join us to redefine the face of STEM.
