LYNN — Who runs the STEM world? Girls.
Girls Inc. in Lynn held their annual Smart Girls Summit Wednesday, where they immersed middle school girls from around the area in all things Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).
Donna Crotty, Director of Development and Communications for Girls Inc., said that there were 114 girls in attendance from four middle schools: Kipp Academy, Breed Middle School, Pickering Middle School, and Thurgood Marshall Middle School.
This year, the summit was organized by Girls Inc. STEM Coordinator Ziaya Bell, who said her main focus is getting the girls excited about a possible future in the field.
“STEM is one of the fastest growing fields, but it’s also predominantly male-dominated. So, our big thing that we do here is try to open up the space for girls to show that, if you go to college, you graduate, you get into this career, you have greater opportunities,” Bell said.
Bell and Crotty both emphasized the importance of seeing women in fields they’re not traditionally in because it allows the younger generation to see a future where they hadn’t before.
“(It) sparks something that motivates the girls to take that next step,” Crotty said about the summit.
The day starts off with a woman guest speaker every year, and this year’s was Monica Tibbits-Nutt, Secretary and CEO of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT).
Then, the girls break off into workshops where they learn about the vast amount of options a career in STEM could provide through activities and real-life examples.
Each workshop is run by companies who volunteered their time, materials, and services for the summit.
Workshops this year included Brain Games from Biogen; Climbing Higher from American Tower; Careers in Fishery Management from NOAA Fisheries; Light Up the Stars from Chandra X-Ray Observatory; Discovering Design: A UX Adventure from EBSCO; Skies the Limit with Drones from MassDOT; Exploring Our World with GIS: A Fun Journey into Mapping and Geography for Young Explorers from ESRI; Science and the Sea from the Northeastern University Marine Science Center; A Career In Medical Lab Sciences from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Humanizing Science For Emerging Innovators from Tufts University; Making Medical Devices With Medtronic from Medtronic; and Marine Careers: Whales, Waves, Chemistry, and More from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Sea Grant.
