September 2014

Fall News from CalGirlS

Dear CalGirlS Network,

Summer was a wonderful time to learn, make, and reflect on our programs and practices to help girls succeed in STEM. With NGCP, we launched the Million Women Mentors program and pledged to sign up 4000+ women mentors from California. We also welcome Parto Aram to the Leadership Team! Working in the Sacramento-Davis region, she has been leading workshops in robotics, programming, and circuits for girls as part of TechTrek. We thank contributors to the newsletter and look forward to connecting with everyone online with our upcoming Online Forum with Dr. Lisa Regalla on "growth mindset."

--The CalGirlS Co-Leads

Monika Mayer & Sherry Hsi

Million Women Mentors

Million Women Mentors is an engagement campaign and national call to action that mobilizes corporations, government entities, non-profit and higher education groups, around the imperative of mentoring girls and young women in STEM fields. Million Women Mentors will support the engagement of one million science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) mentors (male and female) to increase the interest and confidence of girls and young women to persist and succeed in STEM programs and careers. (text from "About" section on website)

Sign up today to join the movement to support mentoring. Million Women Mentors is signing up one millionmentors in STEM professions over the next four years and to collectively increase the interest and confidence of girls and young women in these areas. CalGirlS is committed to getting 4000 mentors (women) to sign up on the site in 4 years. Consider signing up and pledge your association as an affiliate of the California Girls Collaborative in STEM or your own organization on the website.

Click here for more information

CalGirlS Panel in San Diego, Sept. 23

The California Girls Collaborative in STEM (CalGirlS) will be presenting at the 2014 STEM Symposium to take place Tuesday 9:40 to 10:40 a.m. Room 14 B on September 23 in San Diego. Facilitated by Sherry Hsi (Lawrence Hall of Science), the panel includes Melissa Koch (SRI International), Jen Joyce (TechBridge), Heather Gibbons (Expanding Your Horizons), and Ann Averitt from the UC Berkeley College of Engineering. They will offer specific equity resources, program strategies, and research-informed approaches drawn from work across innovative programs that effectively support girls. Registration is still open!

"Growth Mindset" Online Forum, Oct. 8

Invited Speaker: Lisa Regalla, Interim Executive Director at Maker Education Initiative, October 8th

Dr. Lisa Regalla was recently named the Interim Executive Director for the Maker Education Initiative (Maker Ed). In her previous role as the National Program Director, she led Maker Corps, a program that builds the capacity of youth serving organizations to engage youth and families in making. She also managed Maker VISTA, an AmeriCorps initiative focused on building thriving Maker Hubs within high poverty communities throughout the nation. Before joining the Maker Ed team, she was the Manager of Science Content & Outreach at Twin Cities Public Television where she was responsible for the educational content presented on television, in person, in print, and on the web as part of the Emmy-Award winning series, SciGirls and DragonflyTV: Nano. Lisa previously served as an educator at the Museum of Science, Boston and the Da Vinci Science Center in PA. Lisa received both a BS in Chemistry and a BA in Theater from Lehigh University before earning her PhD in Chemistry from the University of Florida.

Development of a growth mindset is a key component to success in STEM...and life! Empowering youth with the confidence necessary to succeed at whatever they put their mind to will open doors to opportunities they may have never thought possible due to gender, race, class, etc. Drawing on experience from my own journey as a scientist, we will cover key strategies that encourage the replacement of the phrase, "I can't" with "I'll try."

Register Here

Join us with Google Hangouts on:

October 8th, 2014

11:00am - 12:30pm

No registration fee required.

STEM Event in Los Angeles, Oct. 25

Join the Society of Women Engineers in Los Angeles on October 25 for the outreach event Invent it. Build it. This event brings girls grades 6-8 and their parents together with educators, women engineers and organizations to help promote continued exploration of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.

Registration closes on October 11!

STEM Career Explorations in Mountain View, Nov. 15

"When I Grow Up..."

Girl Scouts of Northern California in collaboration with the Women's Influence Network are presenting this STEM career exploration at the NASA Ames Research Center. Calling all professionals and college students working in science, technology, engineering, or the environment to provide an interactive display or activity related to your career, answer questions from girls, and share your accomplishments, passions and challenges in your field.

This event is for girls in grades K-12 and their families.

Event Details:

November 15, 2014

10am - 12:30pm, 1:30pm - 4pm

Click here to register a free activity booth or email Jennifer.

Program Highlight: Tech Trek!

Tech Trek is a project of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) that aims to promote interest in STEM among young women, and raise their self-confidence in these fields. It is a science and math camp designed to teach rising 8th grade girls about how exciting the STEM field can be and to encourage them to pursue future careers in these fields. This week-long camp is held on multiple university campuses, such as Stanford, UC Davis, and UC Irvine, where the campers will be provided with dining, instructional and housing facilities for the duration of the program. By exposing these girls to the careers available to women in science today, Tech Trek hopes to help sustain girls' interest so that they are able to visualize a future working in a field of STEM.

AAUW California branch members recruit campers by giving scholarships to qualified candidates from local middle schools who are recommended by their 7th grade math or science teachers.

For more information, go to the Tech Trek website or contact the coordinators at techtrek@aauw-ca.org for details.

NGCP Program Directory

Don't forget to keep your information up to date in the NGCP Program Directory.

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 as a way to share programs and help mini-grant applicants find collaborators during mini-grants application season.

About NGCP and CalGirlS

The goals of the National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP) are to:

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.

The Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California, Berkeley is proud to be the collaborative lead with the National Girls Collaborative Project as its California affiliate - California Girls in STEM (CalGirlS).

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