October
2014
Fun in the Fall With October STEM News at Girls Stem Collaborative (GSGSC)
 
Greetings from GSGSC! The Garden State Girls STEM Collaborative is the New Jersey initiative of the National Girls Collaborative Project, a program focused on providing high quality STEM activities to girls. Our primary goal is 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, products and by connecting formal and informal educators, business and industry in order to maximize the resources that can positively influence our girls. 
As always, this newsletter is for you as members of the Collaborative. It can serve as a forum to promote events and to highlight the good work that you all do, so please let me know what is going on so we can include your program in upcoming issues.
 
In this issue:
  • Got STEM? Let us Know How You're Supporting STEM in Afterschool!
  • Girls in IT - apply by 11/2 for NCWIT Award for Aspirations in IT
  • Apply by 11/15 and join the Maker Movement with a grant from Cognizant
  • Take Advantage of this Valuable FREE Resource: Is your program listed?
  • 2015 NCWIT Awards for Aspirations in Computing - apply by 11/2
  • GoldieBlox, The Toymaker Trying To Get Girls Hooked On Engineering, Goes Digital with New iOS App 
 
Mike MacEwan
Collaborative Lead, Garden State Girls STEM Collaborative
 Got STEM? Let us Know How You're Supporting STEM in Afterschool!
Click here to get started!

NJSACC knows that a lot of great things are being achieved through STEM education in afterschool programs, but we need to know more. Help us make a difference by pinpointing STEM activity taking place in your programs and let's find out what is being accomplished!

With that in mind, please take a moment and fill out our quick survey to express your interests in incorporating STEM into your programs or how you are currently implementing STEM. Please note that programs that don't currently offer STEM are encouraged to complete the survey as well. We'd like to hear from all of you!

We encourage as many programs to respond as possible, whether or not you have strong involvement with STEM.

Thank you, in advance, for your help.

Click here to access the survey and begin!
Calling all girls with an interest in IT/Computing!

Apply now for the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) Award for Aspirations in Computing.

Eligibility:
  • girls, grades 9-12
  • citizens of the U.S.
  • applicants with a demonstrated, outstanding aptitude and interest in IT/Computing and demonstrated leadership ability
  • past applicants, including National and local Affiliate runners-up and local Affiliate winners
Educators, please share this with your female students who are involved in, or interested in, Information Technology.

Additionally, the Aspirations in Computing Educator Award recognizes teachers, counselors and other educators that make a special effort to support girls' interest in technology.

Applications are being accepted until November 2, 2014.

Find out more information and apply at: www.aspirations.org/

Click here to learn more and apply.
 
Cognizant is a leading provider of information technology, consulting and business process outsourcing services, dedicated to helping the world's leading companies build stronger businesses. Their education initiatives in the U.S. focus on expanding and enhancing STEM education by increasing exposure to, and interest in, STEM learning activities.

Cognizant is now accepting applications for the 2015 Making the Future afterschool and summer program.  Developed in partnership with the Maker Education Initiative and the New York Hall of Science, the program provides grants to community organizations to run hands-on, Maker-Movement inspired programs in an afterschool or summer-camp setting.  Cognizant believes that Maker activities not only engage and excite kids but can spark interest in STEM and the arts, as well as develop their creative capabilities.  Maker programs include a diverse range of STEM topics, including electronics, robotics, computer programming, digital fabrication, 3-D printing and wearable technology.

Child-serving U.S. nonprofit organizations wishing to run afterschool, in-school and summer Maker programs can apply from now through Nov. 15, 2014.  Making the Future grants can cover costs for tools, materials, instructor fees, and other expenses essential to meeting the needs of the children participating in the program.

Want to learn more about making? The Maker Education Initiative is a fantastic resource for getting started in making, facilitating programing and more. You can also watch our webinar series on making in afterschool - part 1, part 2, and part 3.

Click here to read from this article's source.
Take Advantage of this Valuable FREE Resource: Is your program listed?
 
The Online Program Directory lists organizations and programs that focus on motivating girls to pursue STEM careers. The purpose of the directory is to help organizations and individuals network, share resources, and collaborate on STEM-related projects for girls. 


When you sign up for the Program Directory, you will enter your program description, resources available within your organization, program and/or organizational needs, and contact information.

The Directory contains program descriptions, resources available within each organization, program and/or organization needs, and contact information. Submitted entries undergo review and verification prior to publication.


 

Click here to register your STEM program
 

The NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing honors young women who are active and interested in computing and technology, and encourages them to pursue their passions. This multi-tiered competition includes recognition at the national level (sponsored by Bank of America) and at the local level (sponsored by Microsoft), serving 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

It's application time for the 2015 NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing and the 2015 NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Educator Award!

Deadline: November 2, 2014, at 11:59 p.m. EST

Click here to read more and apply now!
 

Written by Sarah Perez

 

GoldieBlox, the San Francisco Bay Area startup focused on building toys for girls aimed at getting them hooked on engineering, has this morning taken its first steps into the digital realm with the debut of a new iOS application - the company's first - GoldieBlox and the Movie Machine, as well as a "digital playground" called Bloxtown.com.

The new app works as a way to engage with the GoldieBlox brand as a standalone experience, but also ties in with the company's physical toys, by allowing kids to print out their animations and other creations and then use those cards along with their real-world toys, if they choose.

GoldieBlox, for those unfamiliar, has been selling a series of construction sets designed to appeal to girls' interests - instead of building scary robots, for example, the toys let girls build machines that move and spin and include cute characters like cats and puppies, accompanied by a storybook that guides the action. The startup is probably best known for its marketing campaign which this year included a high-profile Super Bowl ad that parodied the toy industry's obsession with using the color pink for its "girl" toys and focusing on "fluffier" activities like playing princess in a castle.

While I personally don't think there's any problem with girls playing make-believe, I agree with GoldieBlox's overall vision which is that girls deserve a wider variety of toys, including those that encourage making and building and, you know, actually thinkingabout things.

The new iOS app supports that same agenda with an app that's fun, but also educational. The app uses the voice talents of Kari Byron of TV's "MythBusters," and and Emily Haines of the rock band Metric, and marks the debut of the company's first animated short, where Goldie and friends build a zoetrope to save the Bloxtown Film Festival.

The app's educational value comes in as teaches the basics of animation by having kids create 12-frame animated GIFs through additive illustration.

The new app is a free download here.
Click here to read more from this article's source.
Contact
Michael MacEwan 
Collaborative Lead  
Garden State Girls STEM Collaborative