It's a Wrap: 2015 Girl Genius STEMfest

On Saturday March 21^st the fourth annual Girl Genius STEMfest was held at Texas State Technical College for a day filled with hands-on, minds-on experiences for girls’ grades 6-12^th to better their minds with STEM careers. This year was especially exciting because of the great partnerships with not one college in the area but three!  We partnered with Baylor University for the second time and for the first time McLennan Community College, all three colleges provided support to make the event possible by providing volunteers, workshop instructors, and college swag.

 “The STEMfest was an incredible event this year and I had a great time!  I participated in “Bubble Pack” which was about medicine, “Are You My Blood Type?” which was about blood types, ”Fossils and Chocolate” which I loved, and “Water you waiting for” which was all about water pollution.  I learned all about medicine and how they packed it, I learned how you get your blood type from your parents, and I learned about the different types of rocks and fossils.  I will definitely be returning so that I can learn some other cool new things, meet more new people, and go on new adventures on campus.  Walking around the school was cool because it gets us to understand what walking around college might be like.  My most favorite part though was the fossils and chocolate because I have a passion for all kinds of rocks.” -Ravyn Dietzman, Girl Scout Cadette

Our goal was to reach 175 girls this year at Girl Genius and we not only achieved our goal, we exceeded our goal by having 183 girls attend this year.  The girls participated in a full-day conference that was designed to allow fun, hand on experiences in a real lab setting in various STEM fields taught by college instructors.  Much like a professional conference that adults attend, the girls registered and chose their own workshops.  Workshops covered an array of diverse STEM fields from welding, automotive mechanics, pharmaceutical technology, biology, geology, engineering, veterinarian technology and more.  Girls were able to practice “blister packing, “which is the method pharmacist use to package medication.  Girls learned that surgical technology is more than just what the TV shows portray in the “This Ain’t Grey's Anatomy” workshop, and mastered the art of circuits by powering LED lights through conductive and insulated play dough. 

“I am very grateful to Time Warner Cable and the Girl Scouts of Central Texas for making such a wonderful event possible.  Girls having a great time and learning so much in the process is a winning combination!  We are certainly looking forward to next year!”  -Melissa Dietzman, Girl Scout Volunteer

This event would not have been possible without the generous support from Time Warner Cable’s Connect a Million Minds initiative, which is an initiative to address America’s declining proficiency in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), which puts our children at risk for not competing successfully in a global economy. Thank you Time Warner Cable! 

Girl's Guide Launch!

More than 400 people joined us on October 1 for the official Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting launch party in Austin and over 2,000 guides were distributed bringing the overall total of guides sold to 3,000. This event was the first time many of you had the opportunity to take a look inside the guides and see what they were all about. We thank you for your participation and the positive feedback we have received on the guides. Several of you voiced that you were excited to incorporate the guide into the new program year and we are just as excited to hear your stories and help you through the process.

Due to the positive response, most guides are currently sold out nationwide at this time. The point in time that you ordered your guide will determine when your order is filled. Guides are arriving in multiple shipments to our local shops and staff will contact you when your order is available for pick up. The shop is still accepting order forms for guides, which can be found here. All orders are expected to arrive by mid-December.

Thank you again for your excitement in the new Girl Scout year. We can't wait to see and hear about all the exciting trips, events and activities that you are planning for your troops.