Looking back at our summer STEM Leadership Academy
We had a very successful STEM Summer Leadership Academy which ran from June 27th to July 22nd at Howard University middle school in DC. For four weeks, nearly 20 girls got to experience our strong, smart and bold programming that helped them gain leadership skills, envision and get hands-on experience in a variety of career paths and build community with each other. We were proud to partner with Boolean Girls, GE Girls, the United Nations Association National Capital Area and Grunley Construction.
We also had a wonderful virtual panel with Dreamwakers who hosted a flashchat with our girls featuring Taylor Luckett, Senior Project Engineer for McCarthy Building Companies and a member of the National Association of Black Women in Construction. Ms. Luckett shared with the group, “We will be Black women for the rest of our lives. When you get into these spaces where no one else looks like you, or where someone doesn’t know how to act around a Black woman because they’ve never met one before, just stay true to yourself. Keep reminding yourself you belong and you are qualified. You are supposed to be there and you can do great things!”
For our “strong” programming, the girls participated in hip hop boxing and health and wellness content from Fit & NU.
During week 1, we were thrilled to partner with Grunley Women in Construction. For week 2, Boolean Girl was on-site to expose the girls to coding. The girls used the application “MakeCode” to program their micro-bits and create moveable objects such as carnival rides, robot trashcans, windmills, and more.
During week 3, the girls had the amazing opportunity to be taught powerful public speaking skills including how to use an elevator pitch, networking with their fellow peers, and how to create their own first impressions that can be applied in the real world beyond Girls Inc.
Later, GE gave a phenomenal explanation and demonstration of sonography. GE thoroughly explained to the girls what sonography is, how they can pursue a career as a Diagnostic Medical Sonographer, the technology used and how to use it. GE brought portable ultrasound machines for the girls to experience what it’s like to become a sonographer. GE set up 4 rotational stations which included interactive activities like identify what food objects are within jello which mimics how sonographers find different organs within the body, observing and describing characteristics of a fetal sonogram, understanding how blood vessels work within the body, and seeing how the heart functions and works.
The rest of the afternoon, Girls Inc DC had the chance to meet, chat, and play with the Premiere Rugby Sevens Headliners, an all-women professional rugby team. We also discussed the importance of Title IX and how the girls can use their strong, smart, and bold voices to advocate for change within their own schools and communities.
During our last week, the girls took the initiative to lead a jewelry making class where they used all the skills they gained from camp to make necklaces and earrings.
