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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
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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:
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Program descriptions with Web site links
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Program resources available
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Program needs
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Potential collaboration opportunities
With the online program directory you can:
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Enter a program for inclusion in the directory
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Sign up for the e-newsletter listserv
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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.
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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
Applications Close:
March 16, 2009
Decisions Announced:
April 6, 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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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 |
 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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