Other Events

In addition to the Annual Conference, the Florida Girls Collaborative Project will host a variety of events for girl-serving organizations, educators, and business professionals in its area.

• January 2010 Forum Report
  

  We heard you! Many small organizations have let us know they would like to get involved in Florida Girls Collaborative Project activities, but budgets are tight and travel time is limited. In January, we took the show on the road and shared resources with organizations in and around the Jacksonville area.
  
  Participants enjoyed speed networking and were introduced to the goals of National Girl Collaborative Project, as well as the tools and resources available through NGCP. They learned about mini-grants from start to finish-while viewing sample applications so they could see the types of questions asked and what has successfully been funded in the past. A workshop on collaborations and partnerships helped participants understand the different levels of partnering and when to use which one. They also learned successful techniques for partnerships where the relationship is mutually beneficial and the groups share risks and rewards. Next, they learned that evaluation doesn't have to be scary! Key topics included: why qualitative and quantitative analysis is important, conducting focus groups, and creating surveys. Lastly, we did a few low-tech hands on activities from Techbridge, Design Squad (PBS), and Engineer Your Life so that they would have hands on activities to take back to the classroom or organization. They built duct tape and newspaper tables, disassembled a toy car, and played with snap circuits in small groups.
  
  The following organizations participated: Communities In Schools of Bradford County, Florida Inc., Girls Inc of Jacksonville, John E. Ford Montersorri School, Girl Scouts of Gateway Council, Florida State College at Jacksonville / Tri-IT Grant Program Florida State College at Jacksonville Women's Center MDCPS, Miami Lakes Educational Center, Upward Bound/University of Central Florida, Empowerment Resources, Inc., University of Central Florida, and Girls Get IT.

  Special thanks to Girls Inc. of Jacksonville for providing our meeting site for the day!

  If you would like to host an Florida Girls Collaborative Project activity in an area outside of Central Florida, please contact Amy Foster, Collaborative Lead, at afoster@gswcf.org or 1.800.881.4475 X1764.

• Spring Forum Success: "She's a Scientist" Event
  

  The National Girls Collaborative Project focuses on two research based strategies: informal education and evaluation. Forums are hosted each year addressing one or both of these important strategies. In April 2009, The Florida Girls Collaborative Project hosted a forum presented by Techbridge, a program of the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland, California.

  This informative workshop helped participants understand how essential field trips and role models are to influencing girls' career choices. Practical tips and take home tools were shared to make these experiences successful and engaging for both the girls and the role models involved. Cari Holland, Girl Leadership Program Specialist from Girl Scouts of Gateway Council attended the spring forum, along with an astrophysicist that GSGC was planning to collaborate with to provide girl programs in STEM. Inspired by the Techbridge workshop, Cari and Althea planned and implemented a new program series: "She's A Scientist."

  The goal is to highlight "young" female scientists, and at the same time help girls see that these careers are not only obtainable, but you can have a social life and family too. Althea talked to the girls about her career and about her education, even sharing the struggles that she had in math and emphasized that one bad grade in math does not mean that you are bad at math. The day ended with hands-on experiments in astrophysics with GSGC program partner MOSH (Museum of Science and History). This event had all the necessary elements to engage girls and influence their career choices in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics by using real life female mentors and offering hands on activities which is the key to success!

  Future events planned include careers in marine biology, research and development, and environmental engineering. For more information on STEM programs and Girl Scouts Gateway Council, please visit their Web site, or contact

  See below for more information on the Techbridge forum presentation:

  • You Can Make a Difference: Planning Role Model Visits and Field Trips to Inspire Girls in Technology, Science, and Engineering
    Techbridge
    Girl Scouts of West Central Florida
    
    Did you know role models can be instrumental in influencing girls’ career choices in STEM? In this workshop, you will learn how to work with role models and corporate partners to host engaging visits and field trips. We will share our recipe for success—make it personal, passionate, and interactive—and give you resources to make every role model encounter impactful.

  "I had seen some research on the benefits of using role models in STEM programming for girls, and knew I wanted to create a program based on that concept, but really didn’t know where to begin. The information provided by Techbridge at that FLGCP workshop was so timely for me and was also relative to current girl serving STEM research trends. I was highly impressed! ."