You can participate in the National Girls Collaborative Project network in many ways. Here are just a few: Enter your organization or program in the Program Directory to network, share resources, and collaborate on STEM-related projects for girls. If you don't have a local collaborative, you can still find project partners via this online resource matching service. Use the NGCP free resources like mini-grant awards to find successful ideas for girl-serving activities and the webcast archives in which practitioners and researchers from across the country share effective strategies for working with girls in STEM. View our calendar featuring events of interest to those working with women and girls in STEM-related pursuits.

NGCP December Webcast
Spice up STEM with SciGirls: Become a SciGirls Museum Affiliate!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Pacific
Let SciGirls help you spark girls' interest in STEM! Learn about the benefits, goals, and application procedure for the pilot SciGirls Museum Affiliate Program, an outreach opportunity from Twin Cities Public Television. SciGirls Affiliates will receive professional development training and multimedia educational resources based on the new PBS television series, SciGirls, funded by the National Science Foundation.
Register: http:// ngcproject.org/events/webcasts.cfm

Northeastern Girls Collaborative (NEGC) Hosts Successful Forum
On November 19, 2009, the Northeastern Girls Collaborative hosted a forum at the new Ford Hall for Engineering and Nanotechnology at Smith College. Attendees were greeted by table displays showcasing area programs devoted to STEM opportunities. Attendees participated in networking exercises and viewed two presentations. The forum concluded with a panel discussion on how to form and sustain successful collaborations.

Kentucky Mini-Grantees Begin "Super Science Saturdays"
Dorton Elementary School's Girls in Science and Research Club partnered with Pikeville College and the East Kentucky Science Center on a 2009 Mini-Grant project to bring female students informal hands-on science education. The program got its start with the first Science Saturday hosted by Dr. Robert Arts and Shannon Arts at the East Kentucky Science Center. Throughout the day the girls got to make their own spectroscopes, watch a laser light show, and create T-shirts using chromatography. The Super Science Saturdays will continue to take place over four more Saturdays with similarly fun and engaging hands-on activities.

NGCP Regional Collaborative Mini- Grants
NCGP mini-grants are designed to enhance access to and build collaboration between programs and resources. Mini-grant application resources, including a sample application, research based strategies, and evaluation requirements are available online at http://www.ngcproject.org/mini-grant/app-resources.cfm. The following collaboratives are currently offering mini- grants:

• Great Lakes mini-grants close December 10, 2009
• Northeast mini-grants close December 11, 2009

Florida Girls Collaborative Project Spring Forums
Tallahassee, FL - January 21, 2010
Jacksonville, FL - January 22, 2010
The Florida Girls Collaborative Project brings together organizations throughout the state that are committed to informing and motivating girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Network and share information about your project or organization, discuss barriers to serving girls in STEM, and learn about mini-grant opportunities. Training will be provided on building effective collaborations that are a win-win for all involved, as well as how to prove your programs are effective for funders and stakeholders.
Register: http://www.ngcproject.org/events/forums.cfm

Fostering Inclusion Through Afterschool Math Webinar
December 10, 2009 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST
Join this free webinar on Afterschool Inclusive Math (AIM). Hear about lessons learned from the successful implementation of this program, which provides all young people the opportunity to work together on real-world, inquiry-based math.
Registration is required. Please contact Amy Weng at aweng@aed.org to receive your invitation and to RSVP.

Girl Scout 2010 Destinations Program
Do you know a girl between the ages of 13-17 (entering 9th-12th grades in the 2010 school year) who is curious about the merging of technology and nature as solutions to our earth's current problems? Who is interested in astronomy, robotics and/or the environment? Who can work well on a team? From July 22-August 1, 2010, through Girls Scouts of Northern California and the NASA Ames Research Center, girls will choose from an astronomy, environment, or robotics track to explore how green technology can be used in these fields to help us become stewards of the earth. They'll engage with experts from NASA Ames Research Center, Monterey Bay Aquarium and Research Institute, California Academy of Sciences and more.
http://www.studio2b.org/escape/destinat ions/event_details.asp?eventid=523

2009 Computer Science Education Week
The U.S. House of Representatives' recently designated December 6-12, 2009 as Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek) in recognition of the transformative role of computing and necessity of rigorous computer science education at all levels. The CSEdWeek website will launch the week of Dec. 6 to be a hub for computer science education resources and social networking. The development of CSEdWeek is a joint effort led by ACM with the cooperation and deep involvement of the Computer Science Teachers Association, the Computing Research Association, the National Center for Women & Information Technology, the Anita Borg Institute, the National Science Foundation, Google, Inc., Intel, and Microsoft.
http://www.csedweek. org

USA Science & Engineering Festival
The inaugural USA Science & Engineering Festival will be the country's first national science festival and will be in Washington, D.C. from October 10-24, 2010. The Festival promises to be a multi-cultural, multi-generational and multi-disciplinary celebration of science. The culmination of the Festival will be a two- day Expo on October 23-24 with more than 500 science and engineering organizations from all over the United States presenting hands-on, fun science activities to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers.
http://usasciencef estival.org/

Registration Now Open for 2010 M3 Challenge
Registration is now open for the 2010 M3 Challenge, to be held March 6-7, 2010. The Challenge has expanded this year to include high schools along the East Coast, from Maine to Florida.
Moody's Mega Math Challenge spotlights applied mathematics as a powerful problem-solving tool, as a viable and exciting profession, and as a vital contributor to advances in an increasingly technical society. The Challenge is funded by The Moody's Foundation and organized by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM).
http://m3challenge.siam.org

Name Change for the Puget Sound Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology
The home of the National Girls Collaborative Project is changing its name to more accurately represent the global nature of our programs and fulfill our mission. We are now EdLab Group and will be expanding our current innovative projects and services as we increase our work in science and engineering and develop programs that address digital inclusion needs.

Serving Up Science and Engineering (to girls especially): a quick briefing
For people who find themselves involved with education outreach programs to recruit girls and minorities to science and engineering, or want to know about them, this guide offers a quick digest on a range of topics from activities to use with kids, to who's doing what in this area and why. This guide is meant for leaders who want to explore the issue, helping them navigate the field. More information can be found at: http://momox.org/servingup.html

AWE Elementary Outreach Surveys Now Available
New AWE Elementary surveys will be available December 15, 2009. These new surveys, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, are a product of the SWE AWE Project. AWE Elementary surveys are available in Word. Download at AWEonline.org. Watch for an announcement of companion surveys for caretakers and Spanish versions of all Elementary Surveys in the spring. For more information, contact awe@engr.psu.edu .

Collaborating for Gender Equity in STEM
The December issue of the National Science Teacher Association publication, NSTA Reports, includes an article describing the purpose and execution of the National Girls Collaborative Project. This article describes NGCP as a tool for science teachers to network with other girl-serving programs, as well as a resource to gain information on current research and best practices for girls in STEM. Details are provided on the services NGCP offers, such as the Program Directory, Regional Collaboratives, Webcasts and Mini-Grant awards.
To subscribe to NSTA Reports:
http://www.nsta.org/publications/reports.aspx

National Lab Day for Hands-on Learning
As a partner of President Obama's recently launched "Educate to Innovate" initiative, National Lab Day will bring hands-on learning to 10 million students by upgrading science labs, supporting project-based learning, and building communities of support for STEM teachers. The effort is a partnership between science and engineering societies representing more than 2.5 million STEM professionals and almost 4 million educators, supported by the Hidary Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and industry partners. National Lab Day activities will be held across the country during the first week in May, 2010. Curriculum and resources can be accessed online.
http://www.nationallabday.org/

NGCP Program Directory - Register your Program Today!
The online Program Directory lists organizations and programs that focus on motivating girls to pursue STEM careers. The purpose of the directory is to help organizations and individuals network, share resources, and collaborate on STEM-related projects for girls. When you sign up for the Program Directory you will enter your program description, resources available within your organization, program and/or organizational needs, and contact information.
http://www.ngcproject.org/directory

American Association of University Women (AAUW) members across the country are serving as Regional Liaisons for the National Girls Collaborative Project. These Regional Liaisons help the people involved in the NGCP to make connections - to one another, to resources on gender equity, and to AAUW.

AWE is the Assessing Women and Men in Engineering Project, which provides exportable assessment instruments, literature resources, and methodologies for Women in Engineering and similar programs. AWE is developing resources for use by K-12 STEM programs as part of NGCP services.