Girl Scouts Add 23 New STEM Badges!
It wasn’t that long ago that we heard about the amazing Girl Scout Troop 6000 who put together a chapter for girls at a shelter in Queens, NY to be part of the organization, build friendships, learn new skills and have fun. The latest news from the Girl Scouts is also getting us excited over here at Smart Girls. They have now added twenty three new badges for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
According to their website, this is their “largest programming rollout in almost a decade!” They will be designing robots and racecars, going on environmentally conscious camping trips, creating algorithms and collecting data as well as experimenting with engineering among other activities.
The badges were created with contributions from companies and organizations like GoldieBlox, WGBH/Design Squad, the Society of Women Engineers, the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics, Code.org, and SciStarter.
Girl Scouts CEO Sylvia Acevedo is a former engineer and worked for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, always actively encouraging young girls to get involved in the STEM fields. She told CNN Tech that the purpose of launching these badges was to combat “the lack of exposure many girls have to STEM.”
These new badges come fresh on the heels of the Girl Scouts adding cybersecurity badges to their program, a field which is constantly seeking qualified candidates. Those activities would include data privacy, cyberbullying and how to protecting yourself online. Older scouts will be taught to code.
As the Girl Scouts state on their site, “when 81 percent of U.S. voters think preparing girls for leadership roles should be a national priority, there has never been a better time to stand with girls.” We couldn’t agree more!
To find out more info check out their blog here!
