Oakton High School Senior Authors 'Elara, STEM Girl' To Encourage Girls to Love STEM and Stick with it!

Leela is a Senior at Oakton High School and an aspiring astrophysicist who has overcome many challenges while pursuing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) activities. Because of this, Leela chose to do her capstone project on “Society’s Role in the Gender Gap in STEM.” After writing her research paper, Leela saw her much younger sister encounter some of the same challenges that she had experienced and was thankfully there to guide her. Leela then wondered about all the girls who don’t have big sisters to help them with STEM challenges? That’s how Leela's book Elara, STEM Girl came to be. Leela knew from her capstone research that the most common issues that girls face when interested in STEM are being the minority, fear of failure, math anxiety and stereotypes so she made sure to address them in her 32 page picture book. Leela launched a Kickstarter campaign in order to get the books printed and develop a website full of fun activities, and learn more about women in STEM. Please support her project here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/906365131/elara-stem-girl-childrens...