STEM in the Middle Opens Young Girls’ Eyes to Opportunities

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PCS Middle Schoolers test out their engineering skills at Tech-Collaborative’s STEM in the Middle Expo.

Accompanied by Middle School science teachers, Ms. Alvarez and Ms. Attias, 30 middle school girls were selected to attend Tech Collective’s 6th annual STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) workshop and career expo which aims to increase STEM awareness and participation at a critical time in young women’s education. The event took place in early November at The Rhode Island STEAM Center at Rhode Island College.

Students from Sophia Academy, Woonsocket Middle School and Calcutt Middle School joined with Paul Cuffee Middle School students to take part in the expo and demonstrations.

They broke into small groups and attended three workshops, choosing from topics such as computer science, cosmology, biotechnology, engineering, environmental science and engineering, marine science, wearable technology and laser printing.

Students were excited. Eighth grader, Katy Ramos, said “I really liked the hands on experiments. For example, I learned a lot during the Cyber Security Workshop. It was also pretty cool to see women in careers that we normally associate with careers for men.”

The event was funded through a Real Jobs Rhode Island grant and sponsored by IBM and Dassault Systemes Simulia.

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