It’s back! The faculty of Glens Falls School District and community volunteers hosted a Girls’ STEM Day on Saturday, March 2, 2024. Carole Geruso, a technology instructional support specialist, lead the effort to reboot this program that was last offered pre-COVID.
Girls’ STEM Day was held at Glens Falls High School, with over forty local girls ranging from grades 6-9 participating. The day began with local women giving short presentations about their STEM professions. Presenters included an architect, nurse, chemical engineer, pilot, and a welder. The girls then participated in STEM workshops featuring topics including crime scene fingerprinting, artificial intelligence, engineering design, stop motion animation, microprocessor programming, and much more. The day concluded with a presentation from Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner about employment opportunities in STEM fields.
Presenter, Elizabeth Little Hogan commented, “It’s great to see programs restarted that were stopped by COVID. Local girls will have a unique opportunity to learn about various STEM fields and then participate in workshops in a relaxed, encouraging, and all girl environment. Some workshops will be challenging, while others are more entertaining. For my section, girls will program microprocessors using MAKECODE and see my latest microprocessor project, an old fashion telephone that senses when someone is near, rings, and then plays a segment of a Taylor Swift song through the receiver.”
Other presenters included Dr. Michelle Grimm, Dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Albany, who lead a workshop about the engineering design process involved in designing biomedical devices, autonomous cars, theaters, and amusement parks. Dr. Robin Flatland, a computer science professor from Siena College, lead a workshop to create art and designs on a computer using Pencil Code.
Organizer Carole Geruso commented, “We are excited to provide our girls the opportunity to meet and speak with women whose careers are in STEM fields. The activities we offered during Girls STEM Day aimed to inspire and encourage our young women to pursue interests in STEM, challenge stereotypes, and promote gender diversity in these fields.”
Girls STEM Day 2024 was supported by the Glens Falls PTSA, Cool Beans, Ludlow Chemical Engineering Hardware, Rayno Electric and Deckworks.