Girls Exploring STEM
Volunteers
Girls of today are presented with gender biases and stereotypes that sometimes steer them away from careers or interest in the fields of STEM. We are working to change that reality. In past years, 1,000+ 7th grade girls attended from 40+ area schools. Join this wonderful event to help inspire local students to consider STEM careers!
To make this a successful event, we need approximately 500 volunteers. Volunteers create and present hands-on workshops, lead a group of students as a guide, or float to help out wherever needed most.
You do NOT need to be female or a STEM professional to volunteer – anyone who is committed to the education and advancement of young girls is welcome.
We welcome ALL volunteers to bring a 7th grade girl (and a friend or two!) to attend the event with them. This can be children, nieces, neighbors, friends.
Guides
Our group guides will lead a group of 8-10 students through their three hands-on workshops.
This is a wonderful opportunity to interact one-on-one with the students!
We expect to need 150 guides! Bring a friend, this is a great way to learn about GESTEM.
Can’t commit to the full day but still want to get involved? We also need floater volunteers for any 2-6 hours window you are available. Registration for Floaters coming soon.
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Questions? Email gestem.guide@gmail.com
Volunteers may bring a 7th grade girl (and a friend or two!) to attend the event with them. This can be children, nieces, neighbors, friends.
Workshop Presenters
Host a hands-on workshop to teach attendees about a STEM topic.
As a 2024 GESTEM presenter you and your team will host hands-on workshops with the goal to teach the attendees about a STEM topic of your choice. In each workshop, you will get to engage with each girl, answer questions they have and hopefully inspire them to pursue their dreams in STEM. They will look to you and your team to lead them through a hands-on workshop. Some examples of previous workshops include building solar cars, catapults or even space rockets! You will host three 50 minute workshops with 25-50 girls per session. Previous presenters have said this day is “extremely rewarding” and they’re “grateful for the chance to volunteer their time to expose the next generation of STEM enthusiasts”.
Each of our workshops can be hosted by an individual or a company.
- We plan to run each workshop 3 times during our event
- Each workshop is 50 minutes long
- The focus MUST be on a hands-on engineering project. Please keep all presentations to a minimum
- Ideally each workshop will have 3-5 volunteers, depending on the project goals
Please share the amazing aspects of your industry and get creative! If you are interested in hosting a workshop but need some topic ideas, here are a few resources:
If you were one of our many workshop presenters in the past, we can’t wait to see you again this year!
For workshop questions or ideas, please contact gestem.presenters@gmail.com.
Required Training
All volunteers will be required to complete SWE Youth Protection Training to meet SWE society guidelines. You do NOT need to be a SWE member to access the online training; however, you will need to create a SWE account. More information will be sent out on this training to all volunteers and workshop presenters. If you would like to complete the training proactively, please access and complete the training. All volunteers will be required to complete the training prior to the day of the event.
SWE Youth Protection – Society of Women Engineers
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