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! 

Transformation Tuesday: Made With Code

Guest post from Sarah Y., Gold Girl Scout and intern at GSCTX. Her intern challenge? To get GSCTX girls interested, involved and inspired with computer coding. You can follow her internship at her blog, Journeys to the Summit 

Its Transformation Tuesday!

It was actually a couple days ago that my mom and I were talking about how you can tell just how old a piece of technology is just by its thickness.A computer, a phone, TV's,  movies (VHS vs. DVD), music (cassettes vs. CD's).

                                                                      

And along with these advances in... size, came the advancement in how they work. I see this advancement every second and fourth Friday of every month when I work with my Made w/Code girls. Coding and programming have come a long way and I am so glad that I get to help the next generation get ready to make the next big advancement!

I would love to talk to your troop, youth group, club, and/or school about the Made w/Code project. If you're at all interested, please contact me at sarah@discovergreenyel.org

Ready to code? Start now!

Until then, Happy coding!

Yours in coding,

Sarah Y.

Seniors Go Tech! - Helping Every Age Stay Connected

This month's featured Gold Girl Scout is Rachel Freeman who focused her efforts on helping senior citizens learn how to use technology to stay connected and active with their communities. Congratulations on becoming a Gold Girl Scout, Rachel!

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My Gold Girl Scout Project, 'Seniors Go Tech!', was designed to provide senior citizens the knowledge and hands-on practice with technology so they would be empowered to maintain and expand their connections with family, friends and their community.  Medical studies have shown seniors who remain socially connected live happier and healthier lives which benefit everyone around.  Technology is one way to help senior citizens can stay connected but many do not know how to use a computer, the Internet or smart phones.  

Although the retirement centers I worked with provided free internet access, only one offered access to community computers and none provided any type of technological support or education to their residents. I created lesson plans and held classes, as well as individual tutoring sessions on several topics including Introduction to the Internet, Introduction to Google, Using Facebook, iPads, iPhones, Email and Kindle for two local retirement centers.  As part of my project I created 'how-to' handbooks for the senior centers and local community groups so others could continue presenting the technology classes I created and possibly expand on the topics.

The 78 senior citizens who attended Seniors Go Tech! classes and tutoring sessions are now able to use their technology much more effectively. In the long-term they will become more connected with their families, friends and communities.  At one Seniors Go Tech! class I met Muriel. Muriel told me she was invited to meet some friends for lunch but she wasn’t going to go. When I asked why not she said she didn’t know where the restaurant was. I told her we could find the address and directions on the internet using her iPhone but she replied she couldn’t read maps very well any more. When I explained to her we could have Google Maps give her verbal directions on her iPhone she was so excited.  We found the address online, programmed the address into her phone and she drove off to meet her friends. I am happy I was able to help her learn how technology can work for her. In the future Muriel will be able to meet her friends for lunch, dinner and movies. She can share what she’s learned with her friends and they will all maintain their connections with families and friends and their community.

Seeing my new friends successfully using technology—some for the first time—was very rewarding. Seniors Go Tech! helped them learn to retrieve voicemail messages, send pictures, texts, emails and “surf the web” with confidence.  I was thrilled to help all of them learn how technology can help them in their daily lives and keep their social connections strong.