Local Girl Scouts Rock STEM Day at the SOE
On Saturday, April 29, nearly 60 Girl Scouts filled classrooms at the Bannow Science Center on campus for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) Day hosted by Ƭapp’s student chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). Juniors and Cadettes of the Girl Scouts of Connecticut in grades 4-8 learned elements of electrical, software and biomedical engineering as well as teambuilding in a series of student-run sessions.
The Girl Scouts rotated between four activities: creating a penny battery, a coding session, building a lung replica and a Lego teambuilding event. The co-presidents of the Society of Women Engineers at Fairfield, Christina Ficaro ’18 and Kathryn Higgins ’18, planned the third-annual event because they want to continue to show younger girls how exciting science and engineering can be and to affirm that STEM fields are not gender exclusive.
“I had a lot of fun running the event,” said Higgins, a junior bioengineering major. “I think the best part about it was just being able to share something that I am so passionate about with the girls and show them that there are so many opportunities available to them as they get older.”
Ficaro, a junior mechanical engineering student, said it’s important to her to empower younger women to take on roles in the sciences.
“We want to make sure that these girls understand that STEM fields are very real options for them and that women are already making great strides in these male dominated fields,” Ficaro explained.
Ellyn Savard, senior manager of the STEM Program for the Girl Scouts of Connecitcut stated, “We appreciate the group of young women working with our Girl Scouts. We also love getting the girls onto a college campus for exactly the same reason – so they can see themselves there as the next logical step after high school.”
See photos from the event.
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