Highlights from Girlstart’s Irving’s Outdoor Learning Center Summer Camp

Take it to the Streets! We had the special opportunity of being hosted by Irving ISD at the Elise Walker Outdoor Learning Center for Girlstart Summer Camp June 3-7. It was so cool to empower girls interested in STEM from schools all over the area!

This past week, the campers became city planners and learned all about the ins and outs of what goes into a city – from engineering roads to designing greenspaces to learning about different energy solutions.

Starting with a small city, the campers first learned about the components of a city and what to consider when deciding where those go. Then, they expanded their cities with roadways and skyscrapers, exploring the engineering side of city planning.

Campers also explored how nature interacts with big cities. Making their own compost, building filtration systems, and designing greenspaces showed the campers how important it is to remember the environment!

Cities are always using new technology! The campers used their coding skills to program their own autonomous cars. Each camper personalized their own vehicle and then programmed it to navigate the city and even parallel park!

On Friday, the campers presented all of their hard work to friends and families at the Showcase. We are so thankful for everyone who visited for supporting girls in STEM!

Highlights from Girlstart’s Pearson Summer Camp

Take it to the Streets! Thank you to Pearson Elementary in Mission CISD for hosting so many campers for our Girlstart Summer Camp June 3-7. It was an experience they will never forget!

This past week, the campers became city planners and learned all about the ins and outs of what goes into a city – from engineering roads to designing greenspaces to learning about different energy solutions.

Starting with a small city, the campers first learned about the components of a city and what to consider when deciding where those go. Then, they expanded their cities with roadways, skyscrapers, and different methods of power to explore the engineering side of city planning.

Campers also explored how nature interacts with big cities. Making their own compost, building filtration systems, creating eco-friendly packaging, and designing greenspaces showed the campers how important it is to remember the environment!

Cities are always using new technology! The campers used their coding skills to program their own autonomous cars. Each camper personalized their own vehicle and then programmed it to navigate the city and even parallel park!

On Friday, the campers presented all of their hard work to friends and families at the Showcase. We are so thankful for everyone who visited for supporting girls in STEM!

Girlstart By The Numbers

  • 28,148 total girls served
  • 97 percent participated at no cost
  • 985 campers served at summer camp
    • 37 camps
    • 6 states
    • 22 locations
    • 37 STEM crew members
  • 800 girls attended STEM conferences in Austin and Houston
  • 410 presenters and volunteers attended the girls in STEM conferences in Austin and Houston
  • 98 STEM society members
  • $142,968 given by STEM society
  • 2282 girls served in Girlstart After School
    • 949 girls in Central Texas
    • 446 in North Texas
    • 560 in Houston, Texas
    • 327 at satellite campuses
    • 89 schools in 25 districts
    • 61 percent Latina
    • 17 percent African American
    • 11 percent Caucasian
    • 6 percent Multi-Ethnic
    • 5 percent Asian American
    • 75 percent are considered economically disadvantaged
  • 255 STEM crew members
    • 81 CTX
    • 28 NTX
    • 55 HTX
    • 54 Satellite
  • 1126 Volunteers
    • 7221 volunteer hours
    • 190 organizations
  • 1258 educators served through professional development
  • 133 community STEM events (STEM extravaganzas, starry nights, and community outreach)
    • 22568 served

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Announcing Austin Game Changers Keynote Speaker Melanie Mitchell

Melanie Mitchell is Professor of Computer Science at Portland State University, and External Professor and Member of the Science Board at the Santa Fe Institute. She attended Brown University, where she majored in mathematics and did research in astronomy, and the University of Michigan, where she received a Ph.D. in computer science. Her dissertation, in collaboration with her advisor Douglas Hofstadter, was the development of Copycat, a computer program that makes analogies. She has held faculty or professional positions at the University of Michigan, the Santa Fe Institute, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the OGI School of Science and Engineering, and Portland State University. She is the author or editor of five books and numerous scholarly papers in the fields of artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and complex systems. Her most recent book, Complexity: A Guided Tour, published in 2009 by Oxford University Press, is the winner of the 2010 Phi Beta Kappa Science Book Award. It was also named by Amazon.com as one of the ten best science books of 2009, and was long-listed for the Royal Society’s 2010 book prize.   Melanie originated the Complexity Explorer online education program at the Santa Fe Institute.

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