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Florida Girls Collaborative Project Newsletter
Advancing the Agenda in Gender Equity for Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.
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Florida Girls Collaborative Project Annual Conference
Held
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On Oct. 10, more than 70 people from across the state attended
the Florida Girls Collaborative Project Annual Conference at the
University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando. The
organization's mission is to bring together organizations throughout
the U.S. and Puerto Rico that are committed to informing and
encouraging girls to pursue careers in science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
Community-based organizations,
teachers,administrators,professors, and
industry members participated in the
day-long conference.
Workshops included Building a Successful STEM
Program, Demystifying STEM and Galactic Girls, among others. The
keynote speaker was Terri Walker-Spoonhur, vice president/operations
manager, Analysis, Simulations,
Systems Engineering & Training (ASSET) Business
Unit, Science Actions into Solutions (SAIC), one of the largest tech
employers in Central Florida. Terri supervises more than 5,000
engineers who build, design and analyze systems for the Department of
Defense. In addition to the keynote speaker, participants heard
from a panel of UCF staff, including Talat Rahman, chair, physics;
Cherie Geiger, environmental chemistry; Parveen
Wahid, electrical engineering; and Linda Walters, marine
biology. During the discussion, the panelists were frank about
their experiences as women in a male-dominated workplace, but
all agreed that women who go into to the sciences and
stay involved can create the tipping point. Surprisingly, out of all
the female professors UCF employees in STEM, Cherie Geiger is the only
tenured employee. She spoke to
the need of "plugging the leaky pipeline"
and noted that many women begin a career
in the field and then drop out.
For archived conference slides: go to
http://www.ngcproject.org/florida/conference.html
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Add your Program to the Online Program Directory
The online program directory lists programs and
reosurces which encourage girls to pursue careers in science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The purpose of
the directory is to help organizations and individuals network, share
resources, and collaborate on STEM-related projects for girls.
The directory contains:
- Program descriptions with Web site links
- Program resources available
- Program needs
- Potential collaboration opportunities
With the online program directory you can:
- Enter a program for inclusion in the directory
- Sign up for the e-newsletter listserv
- Search programs using various criteria
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An advanced search option is now available for NGCP
Program Directory users. The advanced search allows users to locate
programs by populations served, collaboration interests, and service
delivery format. The service delivery format is especially useful for
parents and educators looking for after school programs, summer
offerings, special events, and more.
Try it now: NGCP Program Directory
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Girl Scouts of West
Central Florida
Girl Scouts of West Central Florida is the lead agency
for the Florida Girls Collaborative Project. GSWCF
serves 8 counties, 33,000 girls and 13,000 adults. Girl
Scouts introduces girls of every age to science, technology,
engineering and math (STEM) with activities that are relevant to
everyday life. Whether they're discovering how a car's engine runs,
becoming math whizzes, or learning about careers in STEM fields,
girls are moving forward into the future.
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Florida Mini-Grant Applications Open in February
 Applications
Open:
February 16, 2009
What is a mini-grant?
Incentive money (up to $1000) for girl-serving
organizations to collaboratively provide STEM programming.
What are the
essential elements to apply?
Mini-grants are not designed to supplement ongoing
projects, but to enhance access, services, and to build collaboration
between programs and resources.
·At least two programs each from a different
organization must collaborate on the mini-grant project.
·All programs collaborating on the mini-grant must be registered in
the Program Directory.
·Projects proposed must include content from the Research Based
Strategies in informal learning or evaluation and assessment.
The following webcast has been archived with helpful
information on how to apply: In this interactive webcast you'll learn how to
create collaborations using NGCP mini-grant funding. Mini-grants are
designed to support collaboration, assessment activities, and
projects related to addressing gaps and overlaps in service, and
sharing promising practices. Mark Thielmann from Girls Inc.-Pinellas
and Maile Martinez from Reel Grrls will share inspiring stories and
outline strategies for successful partnership and program
development. Mini-grant application basics and requirements will be
presented. Since 2002, the NGCP has awarded over 100 mini-grants to
organizations in California, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan,
Missouri, Oregon, Texas, Washington, North Carolina, Florida,
Kentucky, and Wisconsin that support girl-serving science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) focused programs.
To
access archived webcasts:
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http://www.ngcproject.org/events/files/NGCPMiniGrantsWebcast_October2008.pdf
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HerWorld Event
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 Science and Technology Careers are Chic - not
Geek! Learn more at the upcoming HerWorld event at DeVry
University Orlando Campus.
DeVry University's Orlando campus is hosting its first-ever HerWorld
event, a day long conference for high school junior and senior girls
aimed at helping them learn more about careers in technology, science
and business. Some 450 girls from Central Florida region are
expected and will attend workshops and participate in panel
discussions with women professionals in their fields.
"HerWorld was created to show young women that careers in
science, math, technology and business are on the rise and that jobs
in these fields are not just for men," Laura Brunsman, Assistant
Director of High School Programs for DeVry University Orlando
campus. DeVry University HerWorld event will be held on
Thursday, April 30 from 8:30 AM to 2:00 PM. The keynote speaker
for the event is Debra Kral, Launch Vehicle Division Kennedy Space
Center Constellation Project Office. Kral began her career
with NASA in June of 1983 at the GSFC Wallops Flight Facility (WFF)
in Virginia. At Wallops, she spent seven years as a project engineer
and test director, leading the planning and execution of literally
hundreds of scientific sounding rocket launches (including a
two-month campaign in Norway). She was also the manager of Wallops
Space Shuttle support. While at Wallops, she was recognized by
Glamour Magazine as one of Ten Outstanding Career Women of 1988, and
was interviewed by newscaster Harry Smith on "CBS This
Morning." In addition to listening to Ms. Kral's
presentation, girls attending HerWorld will participate in group
discussion and activities. At the end of the day there will be
a prize giveaway.
"We are very excited to have this unique opportunity to
communicate with young women on a personal basis, to introduce them
to women who are role models and leaders in their fields, and
introduce them to career ideas that they may never have considered
before," said Brunsman.
The event is open to high school junior and senior girls.
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Webcasts
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NGCP February Webcast
Best Practices in Creating Successful Collaborations:
Lessons Learned from the National Girls Collaborative Project
February 11, 2009
2 - 3 PM Eastern Time
NGCP uses a number of strategic activities to encourage collaboration
among girl-serving STEM projects and programs. This webcast will
examine the key elements of effective collaboration by providing
lessons learned from NGCP project staff and partners.
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Year of Science 2009
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 Welcome to the first month of the Year of Science 2009
-- a year long celebration where participants in the Coalition on the
Public Understanding of Science are leading a celebratory journey
with you to share how science works, what it is like to be a scientist,
and why science matters. In nearly every state, participants in the
celebration will be demonstrating how we know about our natural world
and why science continues to be so vitally important to our
communities, our country, and the world.
The January theme highlighs the process and nature of
science and why it is important to celebrate science. With this
theme, the scientific community launches an exciting new Web resource
-- Understanding Science -- that introduces a new way to talk about
science and its contributions to society. Take some time to
explore the sites' content and check back often to see what is new as
this site will be building throughout the year.
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The Florida Girls Collaborative Project is a
collaborative effort funded through the National Girls Collaborative
Project and the National Science Foundation. Partners of the
National Girls Collaborative Project are featured above. Agencies
involved in the leadeship of the Florida Collaborative include Girl
Scouts of West Central Florida, Girls Inc. of Pinellas, University of
Central Florida and the Women's Research Center, AAUW, and Girl Scouts
of Apalachee Bend. To learn more about the National Girls
Collaborative Project or to contact one of the above agencies
click here.
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