March 2022 – Girl Scouts STEM Center of Excellence
On Saturday, March 19th, Dallas SWE delivered our award winning flagship outreach event, Design Your World, to over 60 Girl Scouts from across the Northeast Texas area. Dallas SWE partnered with Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas to deliver this year’s program and the event was held at the Girl Scouts STEM Center of Excellence at Camp Whispering Cedars in Dallas.
Design Your World Spring 2022 was held after a two year break from in-person, hands-on outreach. Dallas SWE greatly appreciates all of the volunteers that helped support the continuation of this event post-pandemic. Dallas SWE had a terrific volunteer turnout, with over 60 volunteers from across the Dallas metroplex representing a variety of industries and backgrounds.
The event consisted of rotating through three hands-on, STEM activities: Structural Towers, Prosthetic Design, and Floatation Devices, with guided mentorship from our volunteers. Through these activities, the girls were introduced to a variety of engineering concepts and methodology.
The Structural Towers activity was led by Ana Gonzalez. Ana explained the concepts of structural engineering and common design elements in architecture. Ana then led the girls through the marshmallow tower activity where the girls were able to design and build a tower using these structural principals and compete for the tallest structure.
The Prosthetic Activity, led by Cyonna Holmes, introduced biomedical engineering and the real-world impact of prosthesis on society. Cyonna explained the design thinking process and the iterative methodology used when designing a new device. During the activity, the girls applied this methodology to design, build, and test a prosthetic leg that had to withstand their body weight while being comfortable and easy to put on.
The Floatation Device activity, designed to explain materials science to the girls, was led by Ashton McCary. Ashton shared. The girls were able to explore and test physical properties of common materials and test their buoyancy by designing a floatation device designed as a life vest for a corgi. During the activity, the girls utilized the iterative design process by refining their designs after testing.
Between the activities, the girls heard an engaging panel of professionals in engineering discuss their careers and STEM journeys. Our panelists, Ashanti Napper, Ashley Johnson, Kimberley Reid, Liz Hainey, and Carla Blickensderfer, gave advice on learning about STEM as a girl and shared their experience on how they overcame any challenges they faced. After the panel, the girls participated in speed networking with the volunteers which allowed the girls to learn more about STEM fields in a small group setting. As there were a variety of volunteers with different backgrounds and paths, the girls were able to hear about many exciting engineering disciplines.
Here is what some of our volunteers had to say about the event:
“The students were very engaged, and it was fun working with them and seeing how they came up with ideas for the prosthetic activity!”
“The activities were great, very well organized, fun and engaging for the girls (and volunteers!)”
“It was very inspirational to see the panelists and girls being inspired.”
“I had so much fun volunteering with SWE today! I love talking about engineering careers, so being on the career panel was an honor and pleasure.”
“I am honored to have had the chance to experience this event and I am excited for more opportunities to volunteer and give back to the Dallas community.”
Dallas SWE would like to thank several teams that helped make this day possible. First, the Design Your World Outreach Committee, consisting of Sammy Zellner, Zaineb Ahmad, Pratiksha Jaju, Ana Gonzalez, Cyonna Holmes, Ashton McCary, Amanda Alsbrook, Lynn Mortensen, and Rana Karimi, for helping to plan and coordinate the event. In addition, we would like to recognize the 60+ volunteers that supported this event. Thanks to our committed volunteers, we were able to have a strong ratio of volunteers to girls, allowing the girls to explore many engineering fields and opportunities. Dallas SWE would also like to recognize the support of our partner, Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas, for allowing us complete creative control in designing the program and activities for the girls. Finally, event sponsor, Amazon, graciously provided all of the funding to deliver a day of quality programming for the girls.
Design Your World Spring 2022 was a highly impactful day of learning and engaging in STEM for girls from our community. Dallas SWE would not have been able to conduct this event without the support of our volunteers and community partners. If you would like to be a part of a future offering, or if your company would like to help sponsor a future event, please contact us at dallas.swe@gmail.com.
