Mini-Grant Awards

Mini-Grants have been awarded to four outstanding program candidates in 2009 and 2010:

• Connecticut Keys for Empowering Your Future
  The Connecticut Association for Mathematically Precocious Youth, Project to Increase Mastery of Mathematics and Science, and the Associated Teachers of Mathematics in Connecticut have designed a day long conference for all Connecticut high school students on STEM-related careers. Students will hear keynote speakers who are currently working in STEM-related fields and then engage in hands-on, inquiry-based activities. There will also be sessions designed to specifically engage girls and underserved minorities in STEM-related careers.
• Girls in STEM Career Symposium for SE CT
  The Science and Technology Magnet High School of Southeastern Connecticut (STMHS), in partnership with the Connecticut Women’s and Education Legal Fund, will facilitate a Girls in STEM Career Symposium for all girls attending the STMHS (100-150 girls).
• Go Girl Scientists
  The Go Girl Scientists project will introduce girls STEM activities into the after-school community of Easter Seals Goodwill Industries' Family Learning Center. A group of six to ten girls, ages nine to 14, working with a mentor and a facilitator, will form a team and build a relationship over the course of the project. Using the LEGO Mindstorms Robot Kit, teams will replicate a project completed by the Girl Scouts of Connecticut. The goal will be for each team to build its own robot and program its functions on a "playing field" that they will also design using computer software. Once a team’s robot is built and functioning, the team will compete in a robotics competition hosted by Girl Scouts of Connecticut.
• Women Take Flight
  The New England Air Museum, in collaboration with the Women in Aviation Connecticut Mentorship Program and the Connecticut Chapter of the Ninety-nines, Inc. (an international organization of licensed women pilots), proposes to host Women Take Flight on November 8, 2009, a full-day program to raise awareness of the exciting jobs now available to women in aviation and aerospace. Women pilots, astronauts, and engineers come to the museum from around the country to meet one-on-one with visitors at stations around the Museum. The pilots, astronauts, and engineers will share their stories through presentations and panel discussions, with the goal of inspiring the next generation to explore aviation-related STEM careers.