Category: Press Releases

GIRLSTART OPENS STEM STUDIO AND MINI-PLANETARIUM IN TIME FOR 2013 SUMMER CAMPS, WILL DEBUT TO PUBLIC DURING ANNUAL BACK-TO-SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE ON SEPT. 7

(AUSTIN) – It was just last year that the Girlstart STEM Center expanded to meet the growing demand for its STEM education summer camp programs for girls, doubling the number of camps it could accommodate. The latest expansion at its Austin location – the Girlstart STEM Studio and Mini-Planetarium, brings the universe into its backyard.

The the free-standing studio is designed to enhance the experience of students attending Girlstart summer camps, as well as providing Girlstart with facilities to create a more comprehensive astronomy activities.

Astronomy and space-related programs have long been at the core of Girlstart’s STEM education programs, including the utilization a portable mini-planetarium for programs throughout Central Texas, and honoring Dr. Sally Ride at its first annual luncheon event (now known as Game Changers) in 2010.

“We’re excited to be opening the mini-planetarium and STEM studio,” said Tamara Hudgins, executive director at Girlstart. “Having a publicly-accessible, permanent, on-site home for this programming has been at the top of our priority list for some time now, and the mini-planetarium will expand what we can do to inspire STEM education as it relates to space studies.”

The domed portion of the studio serving as a planetarium accommodates up to 30 students at once, giving Girlstart a permanent home for its space science programming. In previous years, Girlstart has utilized a mobile, inflatable dome allowing presenters to bring astronomy to students throughout Central Texas. The studio also includes a room allowing for educators and students alike to explore what Girlstart Deputy Director Julie Shannan calls “messy science,” as well as program standbys like robotics and engineering.

Students attending summer camps will be the first to experience the new facility. Those curious about Girlstart have additional incentive to attend its Back-to-School Open House event on Saturday, Sept. 7 from 9:30 a.m. to noon, as Girlstart staff will showcase astronomy demos in the Mini-Planetarium as part of the free, open to all event.

The STEM Studio and Mini-Planetarium was made possible by the following generous companies and individuals:

Arrow Glass
Burrows Cabinets
C2 Mechanical Services
Celis Drywall
Coburn & Company
David Wilkes Builders
D & E Electrical Service
Designtrait
DeRuiter Insulation
Dirty Work Services
Donovan Millworks
Eastside Lumber & Decking
Gonzales Framing
Javier Martin, P.E.
Joe Clark Mechanical Services
Lazaro Alviter Concrete
McCormick Commercial
Quality Roofing Texas
Ramming Paving

Facilities Committee:
Becky Jeanes
Chip McCormick
Jim van Winkle, Chair
David Wilkes
James Wilsford

SUPPORTING ITS NATIONALLY-RECOGNIZED SUMMER CAMP AND AFTER-SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM

SIGMA-ALDRICH AWARDS GRANT TO GIRLSTART, SUPPORTING ITS NATIONALLY-RECOGNIZED SUMMER CAMP AND AFTER-SCHOOL STEM PROGRAM

(AUSTIN) – In order to help Girlstart in its mission to increase girls’ interest and engagement in STEM, Sigma-Aldrich today announced it is awarding Girlstart a $35,000 grant to support Girlstart’s innovative, nationally-recognized, informal STEM education programs.

The grant will help fund Girlstart’s summer camp and after school programs over the next year, including new programs for high-need Round Rock schools. Girlstart’s programs serve a diverse group of 4th through 8th grade girls in Central Texas as well as select communities throughout the United States via an ongoing summer camp initiative launched in 2011.

Girlstart’s programs have been recently recognized by Change the Equation and SEDL for their effectiveness in engaging girls in STEM education and improving their abilities in STEM-related subjects. Partnering with the likes of NASA, the National Science Foundation, and Google Science Fair, Girlstart continues to integrate technologies utilized by STEM professionals – including smartphone app developing, video editing software, 3-D printing, and video game design – in educating young women and addressing the gender gap currently existing in the nation’s STEM workforce.

“We’re honored to have Sigma-Aldrich’s support in bringing STEM education to our growing summer camp and after-school programs,” said Tamara Hudgins, executive director of Girlstart. “The grant from Sigma-Aldrich will help us meet the ongoing need we have to inspire students to pursue STEM studies, prepare for STEM careers, and develop the innovations that will continue to shape and improve our lives.”

“As a company that recognizes the value of science and the role it plays in our world, Sigma-Aldrich is thrilled to help Girlstart expand its programming,” said Jeffrey Whitford, Global Citizenship Manager at Sigma-Aldrich. “We look forward to an ongoing partnership and to engaging our employees with dynamic volunteer opportunities that help Girlstart participants connect the learning environment with real world challenges.”

For the upcoming school year, Girlstart will expand its school programs to 40 different Central Texas schools – nearly double the number offered just two years ago. Girlstart After School is an intensive intervention where Girlstart provides free STEM education programs every week throughout the school year at partner schools, as well as wraparound services to support STEM in each partner school. Girlstart After School involves sequential, informal, hands-on and inquiry-based activities across the STEM acronym.

Sigma-Aldrich is a leading Life Science and High Technology company whose biochemical, organic chemical products, kits and services are used in scientific research, including genomic and proteomic research, biotechnology, pharmaceutical development, the diagnosis of disease and as key components in pharmaceutical, diagnostics and high technology manufacturing. Sigma-Aldrich customers include more than 1.3 million scientists and technologists in life science companies, university and government institutions, hospitals and industry. The Company operates in 35 countries and has nearly 9,000 employees whose objective is to provide excellent service worldwide. Sigma-Aldrich is committed to accelerating customer success through innovation and leadership in Life Science and High Technology.

More information on Sigma-Aldrich Global Citizenship is available at www.sialglobalcitizenship.com.

FEATURING 31 DAYS OF STEM FUN TO ENCOURAGE WINTER BREAK LEARNING

GIRLSTART AND THE GOOGLE SCIENCE FAIR LAUNCH SPECIAL 2012 EDITION OF DESTEMBER ON GOOGLE+, FEATURING 31 DAYS OF STEM FUN TO ENCOURAGE WINTER BREAK LEARNING

Girlstart, in its continued efforts to empower and equip girls in STEM education, is partnering with the Google Science Fair for a special DeSTEMber program – featuring 31 days of fun, innovative STEM activities in December. The program will be hosted on the Google+ Pages of Girlstart and The Google Science Fair and on the program’s official website, www.destember.org.

DeSTEMber will feature daily activities and experiments – many hosted by special guests including National Geographic, CERN, Scientific American and AccuWeather – that can be done at home with common household items. Experiments include making a tornado in a jar, bending water, making a lava lamp, making soap, and other fun, hands-on projects which engage young learners while integrating STEM education principles.

Google+ will be the hub for the month-long celebration of STEM. Students and adults will be able to practice experiments and chat live with Girlstart, representatives and finalists of the Google Science Fair and special guests using Google+ Hangouts.

“By creating DeSTEMber last year, we created a place for girls to go and stay engaged with STEM learning during a time of year when school is out of session,” said Tamara Hudgins, executive director for Girlstart. “It provides a great opportunity for hands-on learning outside of the classroom, and we created an online program with that inquiry and discovery process in mind.”

“Bringing Google+ into the equation allows us to enrich and expand DeSTEMber even further,” added Julie Shannan, Girlstart Deputy Director. “Not only can participants use Google+ to compare notes and collaborate, but we’re able to conect girls interested in STEM careers to women working in the STEM field.”

Those interested in following DeSTEMber can follow the #DeSTEMber hashtag on Google+ and Twitter leading up to and throughout the month of December, and also visit and subscribe to Girlstart’s and The Google Science Fair’s Google+ Page. Every day during the month of December, Girlstart will post an article featuring that day’s featured activity, complete with materials list, embedded video/photos, and links to photo albums and external web properties. Many times throughout DeSTEMber, special guests will host exclusive experiments and participants can join live Google+ Hangouts (video chats) to interact with the host.

About Girlstart
Girlstart’s mission is to increase girls’ interest and engagement in STEM through innovative, nationally-recognized, informal STEM education programs. By empowering more girls to continue STEM studies, we can help address our nation’s STEM workforce inequities and impact innovation and economic development in America and across the globe.

Founded in Austin, Texas, in 1997, Girlstart is the only community-based informal STEM education nonprofit in the nation specifically dedicated to empowering and equipping girls in STEM through year-round STEM educational programming. To accomplish its mission, Girlstart develops and implements a range of innovative, research- and standards-based education and mentorship programs designed to promote girls’ early engagement and academic success in STEM, encourage girls’ aspirations and persistence in STEM education and careers, and incubate a talented and diverse STEM workforce.

About the Google Science Fair
As part of its commitment to STEM education, Google launched the Google Science Fair in 2011. The Google Science Fair has since grown into the largest online science competition in the world, with 13-18 year-old students from over 100 countries submitting thousands of science projects this year. Twenty-one students representing fifteen top finalist projects spent four days visiting the company’s headquarters in California, where they presented their projects to esteemed scientists, including nobel prize winners and specialists from Google Science Fair partners, CERN, LEGO, National Geographic and Scientific American. Google selected top prizes in each age group, including a grand prize winner and this year introduced the Science in Action Award sponsored by Scientific American for the project with the greatest community impact. The next Google Science Fair is just around the corner; it will launch in January 2013 at google.com/sciencefair.