Girls' Surfboard Design and Build Workshop

Diana Valdez, 11 year-old engineer-in-training, is using the pull saw to cut out the surfboard she's building with her Surfboard Design and Build group at the Watsonville Environmental Science Workshop (WESW), one of five California sites in the Community Science Workshop Network.  Seven girls aged 9 to 15 years old get picked up each week from the apartments they live in at a former migrant labor camp nestled in the strawberry fields outside of town.  Every Wednesday they design, shape, and glass in surfboards at the Science Workshop on Second Street in downtown Watsonville.  The group will work together to make one surfboard for each participating girl to keep, using blanks and tools donated by the Wahine Project in Monterey. 

The program was dreamed up by WESW science educators as a way to encourage girls to get into long-term, tool-intensive projects at the workshop, and also to introduce the girls to the ocean in a meaningful and engaging way. The program leads girls to take charge at every stage of the process of building a surfboard:  from designing the shaping stand, to building their own tools out of old sander belts, to making fine adjustments to the profile of the board that affect the way it slides through the water.  Throughout the project, they'll work together in a group, helping each other to learn new skills and collaborating on each other's projects.  At the end of the summer, they'll go on surfing field trips with their new surfboards at local beaches.  Many of the participating girls rarely get to visit the ocean, although they live scarcely two miles from the coast, and this program will be a chance for them to experience the riches of the kelp forests, wild animals, and the rocky geographic features that distinguish the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary.   

This is a good way educators, parents, afterschool providers, mentors, teachers, collaborators, and funders learn about STEM programs that include and serve girls. CalGirlS will also be using this directory to communicate program information and promote collaboration between programs.

• Strengthen the capacity of girl-serving STEM programs to effectively reach and serve underrepresented girls in STEM by sharing promising practice research and program models, outcomes and products.

• Increase the effectiveness of Collaboratives by providing professional development focused on sustainability, organizational effectiveness and shared leadership to more effectively deliver services to girl-serving STEM organizations.

• Maximize K-12 school counselors' access to and use of relevant, high-quality resources that increase awareness of barriers to girls' interest and engagement in STEM.