Girls in STEM at Minuteman High School will participate in Mass. STEM Summit in Worcester in November

By Judy Bass

LEXINGTON - Minuteman High School’s Girls in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Mentoring Program is in the spotlight again. The nationally award-winning program has just been selected as an exhibitor at the 2016 Massachusetts STEM Summit.

The event, whose theme this year is “Building a Lifetime of Opportunity,” will be held at the DCU Center in Worcester on November 1, 2016.

“What this opportunity does more than anything,” said Minuteman Director of Career and Technical Education Michelle Roche, who has played a key role in establishing the school’s Girls in STEM program, “is validate that the girls are on the right path, that it’s okay to be smart, to show that off, and to be proud of the choices they’ve made.”

She added that Minuteman emphasizes STEM education, noting that it was the first vocational-technical high school in Massachusetts to have state-approved programs in robotics, environmental science and biotechnology.

This recognition is the latest accolade for Minuteman’s Girls in STEM program, which earned a Grand Prize for student-to-student mentoring two years in a row from SkillsUSA, a national organization that runs trade and leadership competitions for students in career and technical schools. Girls in STEM also received an award for excellence from the Massachusetts Association of School Committees.

Scheduled to represent Minuteman at the STEM Summit are Ms. Roche, Girls in STEM Co-Advisor and Minuteman faculty member Sarah Ard, Girls in STEM participant / Minuteman student Shaina Guidebeck, and Girls in STEM participant / middle school student Jamy Swartz.

The Girls in STEM initiative was launched at Minuteman in 2015 to provide role models and mentors for middle-school girls interested in STEM, information on STEM education and careers, and a supportive atmosphere that builds female students’ self-confidence and enthusiasm for STEM fields. There have been four week-long STEM exploratory camps at Minuteman for girls in grades 7 and 8.

Women are significantly under-represented in the workplace in STEM areas, which have traditionally been dominated by men. One primary goal of Girls in STEM at Minuteman is to help reverse that trend by empowering more females to pursue their interest in STEM in college and in careers.

The STEM Summit’s purpose, according to its web site, is to serve as “an annual opportunity for sharing innovative ideas, discussing groundbreaking policies and strategies, and celebrating the tremendous ongoing work taking place at all levels of education and workforce development throughout the state.”

It is hosted and sponsored by the Massachusetts STEM Advisory Council, the Massachusetts Business Roundtable, the UMass Donahue Institute, and media partner WGBH. Several other sponsors representing education and industry are taking part.

“This is the big event of the year, the one everyone interested in the field tends to go to,” said John Hodgman, a STEM advocate and member of the Massachusetts STEM Advisory Council. He believes that having Minuteman’s Girls in STEM program exhibiting is “very timely because we need to get as many young women as possible interested in STEM fields,” and the Minuteman people will be able to showcase their best practices for a large number of educators.

There is a competitive process for choosing the exhibitors, said Jean Supel, research manager at the UMass Donahue Institute, who is coordinating this program. Fifty-one proposals were received, she said; of those, 40 were picked by an independent review committee based upon the clarity and relevance to STEM of the applications, the topic of the suggested exhibit, whether it is unique, inspiring and adaptable for use by other schools, and its potential to engage visitors’ interest.

Ms. Supel anticipates 1,400 visitors will attend the event, such as legislators, representatives from business, higher education and industry, CEOs, and educators from kindergarten through grade 12.

“Minuteman Girls in STEM is a rich opportunity for our students and future students,” said Ford Spalding, Dover representative to the Minuteman School Committee. “Being a part of the Summit will be an opportunity for them to learn from others, and at the same time, to have others learn from them.”

Minuteman is an award-winning regional high school that integrates robust academic and career & technical learning to deliver a revolutionary competitive advantage. The school serves a diverse student body with multiple learning styles, expanding opportunities for college and career success. As an accredited member of the New England Association of Schools & Colleges (NEASC), Minuteman challenges all students to aspire to their full potential, accelerate their learning, and achieve success in the 21st-century global community.