Girls can.

Last week, I was invited to visit Stoneridge Elementary in Roseville.  Before going, I was told I would see STEAM projects in action.  Since we have been playing around with coding and engineering-type challenges in class this year, I was excited to get some ideas and inspiration.  What I left with was so much more.

This year, Brandon Blom, the amazing principal at Stoneridge has brought in Project Lead the Way for students in all grades.  As we toured through the different classes, we saw SUCH a variety of projects that students were engaged in.

Structures built by 1st graders

In first grade, kids successfully built houses that could withstand wind.  I LOVED that it was tied to literacy with the Three Little Pigs! Even my 4th graders would love this activity.

We also toured through a group of 5th graders, building a VEX IQ robot along with programming it to move 2 blocks off a surface. Even before we stepped in the room, it was buzzing with excitement.  Walking in, these 5th graders were engaged in their small groups of 4.  While each group was at a different place in their building and programming, each student was completely engaged in the process.  One thing I couldn't help but notice was a group of 4 girls working together to program their robot on the floor.  I wanted to check in with the girls and see how the process was going. They were all 4 SO excited to tell me all about what they were working on.  They told me how they had coded the robot in the wrong direction, but knew how to fix it and that it would be much easier now that they had already done it once.  These girls were not only engaged, but confident in their abilities as well.

ramps for testing in 4th grade

When visiting the 4th grade classroom, kids were in groups of 4 again, this time completing a project in which they were to design a protective "car" for an egg, which could be sent down an incline without cracking.

I couldn't help but be drawn to another group of girls who were so excited to run their final test on their egg that afternoon.  They had named their car "Fluffari," and explained to me, in detail, their thought process behind using the materials they chose.  This project had been going on for a few weeks up until this point and I felt so lucky to witness the final test with these girls.

a 4th grader giving me all the specs for the "Fluffari"

Driving home, I really got to thinking about how things have changed for girls in education.  I realize that I'm not that old...well...some days my 4th graders like to remind me that I am not as "hip" as I think I am, but it's such an exciting time in education...

As a young girl going to school in the 1980s, math, science and engineering were always geared more towards boys. Even toys in these areas were visually more appealing to boys (think Erector sets from the 80s). I'm not sure I was not explicitly told, "You are not good at math or science," but I certainly don't remember being encouraged or pushed in that area.  I was good at language arts AND talking, but didn't show interest in "boy" things and because of this, wasn't pushed to try it.

I think the younger me came out during my visit to Stoneridge. I wanted to cheer on these girls and tell them how smart they were and how anything was possible for them. While watching the 5th grade girls, I thought, "Wow. These girls are just amazing.  They have no clue that at one time, girls were not encouraged to try anything like this." With the 4th grade girls, I was SO giddy to watch them send their "Fluffari" down the ramp! I wanted to make signs and cheer with pom poms for these 4 girls. I'm sure they already thought I was creepy enough asking them a million questions about their project, but I swear I could have picked them up and hugged them like I was their proud auntie when that egg (spoiler alert) didn't crack.

I love that as educators, we are pushing our kids to learn skills that they will need as they move into their careers (whatever they might be).  Sending girls the message that they CAN be coders, programmers or engineers AND providing them opportunities to try out these skills is something I wish I had experienced and am proud to say is something that teachers at schools like Stoneridge are providing for kids.